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THE   HISTORY  OF  THE  NINETEENTH 
CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


THE   HISTORY 

OF  THE 

Nineteenth  Century 
In  Caricature 


BY 

ARTHUR   BARTLETT    MAURICE 

AND 

FREDERIC   TABER    COOPER 


PROFUSELT    ILLUSTRATED 


LONDON 

GRANT    RICHARDS 
1904 


Copyright,    T90;;,    1904 
By    DODD,    MEAU    AND    COMPANY 


BURR     1'RINTING     HOUSE 
NEW     YORK 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


PART  I.     THE  NAPOLEONIC  ERA 


ICATURE       . 

I 

12 

•         19 

.         28 

•       35 

44 

I.  The  Beginning  of  Political  Caricature 
II.  Hogarth  and  his  Times 

III.  James  Gillray 

IV.  Bonaparte  as  First  Consul 
V.  The  Emperor  at  his  Apogee 

VI.  Napoleon's  Waning   Power 

PART  II.     FROM  WATERLOO  THROUGH  THE 
CRIMEAN  WAR 

V^II.  After  the  Downfall    . 
VIII.  The   "  Poire" 
IX.  The  Baiting  of  Louis-Phillipe 
X.  Mayeux  and  Robert  Macaire 
XI.  From  Cruikshank  to  Leech 
XII.  The  Beginning  of  Punch     . 

XIII.  Retrospective 

XIV.  '48  AND  the  Coup  dTtat 
XV.  The  Struggle  in  the  Crimea 

PART  III.    THE  CIVIL  AND  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN 

WARS 

XVI.  l^m;  Mexican  War  axu  Slavery 
XVII.  Neglecti;i)   ()iM'()Rrr\rrii;s 
XVni.  Tm-  South  Secedes 
XIX.  The  Foi  r  "*>  i:ars'  Struggle 
XX.  Nations  and  Mk\  in  Caricature 
XXI.  The  Oi  tkriak  or  the  Franco-Prussian  War 
XXII.  The  DebAcle 


57 
65 
73 
90 

97 

lOI 

1 1 1 
119 
128 


143 
159 
166 

175 
188 

197 
206 


Vll 


VUl 


CONTENTS 


PART  IV.     THE   END   OF  THE   CENTURY 

XXni.  The  Evolution  of  American  Caricature 
XXIV,  The  Third   French   Republic 
XXV.  General  European  Affairs 
XXVI.  Thomas  Nast      ..... 
XXVII.  The  American   Political  Campaigns  of   1880 

AND     1884  ..... 

XXVIII.  The  Influence  of  Journalism 
XXIX.  Years  of  Turbulence 
XXX.  American  Parties  and  Platforms     . 
XXXI.  The  Spanish-American  War     . 
XXXII.  The  Boer  War  and  the  Dreyfus  Case 
XXXIII.  The  IVIen  of  To-day         ... 


PAGE 

236 
245 

269 
278 
289 
309 

342 

355 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


What  It  Is  and  What  Is  It? 

French  Invasion  of  England 

Nelson  at  the  Battle  of  the  Nile  (Gillray) 

Bonaparte  after  Landing   (Gillray) 

John  Bull  Taking  a  Luncheon  (Gillray) 

French  Consular  Triumvirate   (Gillray) 

Capture  of  the  Danish  Ships   (Gillray) 

The  Broad-Bottom  Administration   (Gillray) 

Pacific  Overtures   (Gillray) 

The  Great  Coronation  Procession  (Gillray) 

Napoleon  and   Pitt   (Gillray) 

Armed   Heroes    (Gillray)        .... 

The  Handwriting  on  the  Wall  (Gillray) 

The  Double-Faced  Napoleon  (German  cartoon) 

The  Two  Kings  of  Terror  (Rowlandson) 

The  King  of  Brobdingnag  and  Gulliver   (Gillray) 

Napoleon's  Burden  (German  cartoon) 

The  French  Gingerbread  Baker  (Gillray) 

The  Devil  and  Napoleon  (French  cartoon)     . 

The  Consultation   (French  cartoon) 

The  Corsican  Top  in  Full  Flight 

Napoleon  in  the  V^alle\-  of  the  Shadow  of  Death  (G 

The  Spider's  Web  (Volk)       .... 

The  Partition  of  the  xMap       .... 

Napoleon's  Plight   (French  cartoon) 

The  Signature  of  Abdication   (Cruikshank) 

The  Allies'  Oven   (French  cartoon) 

The  New    Robinson  Crusoe  (German  cartoon) 

Napoleon  Caged   (French  cartoon) 

Restitution  ...... 

Adjusting  the  Balance  .... 

John  Bull's  New  Batch  of  Ships  (Charles) 
Russia  as  Mediator    (Charles) 


11  ray 


pa(;e 
Frontispiece 
3 
5 
6 
8 
II 

i6 
19 

21 

23 
25 

27 
29 

31 
33 
36 
38 
39 
41 
45 
47 
48 

49 
50 

52 
54 
55 
56 

58 
60 
62 
63 


IX 


X 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Cossack  Bite  (Charles) 

John  Bull  and  the  Alexandrians  (Charles) 

John  Bull's  Troubles  (Charles) 

The  Order  of  the  Extinguishers  (French  cartoon) 

Proudhon 

Digging  the  Grave 

Le  Poire  (Philipon) 

The  Pious  Monarch 

The  Great  Nut-Cracker 

Enfonce  Lafayette  (Daumier) 

The  Ship  of  State  in  Peril 

The  Pit  of  Taxation  (Grandville) 

The  Question  of  Divorce  (Daumier) 

The  Resuscitation   (Grandville) 

Louis  Philippe  as  Bluebeard   (Grandville) 

Barbarism  and  Cholera  Invading 

The  Raid       ..... 

Mayeux   (Travies) 

Robert  Macaire  (Daumier) 

Extinguished !  .  .  .  . 

Louis  Philippe  as  Cain 

Laughing  John — Crying  John 

The  Wellington  Boot 

The  Land  of  Liberty 

England's  Admonition  (Leech) 

The  Napoleon  of  Peace 

The  Sea-Serpent  of  1848 

Europe  in   1830     .... 

Honore  Daumier   (Benjamin) 

The  Evolution  of  John  Bull 

Joseph  Prudhomme  (Daumier) 

The  Only  Authorised  Lamps  (Vernier) 

Italian  Cartoon  of  '48 

Napoleon  le  Petit   (Vernier) 

The  New  Siamese  Twins 

Louis  Napoleon  and  Madame  France 

l^he  Proclamation   (Gill) 

Split  Crow  in  the  Crimea 

Bursting  of  the  Russian  Bubble 


PACE 
63 
64 
64 
67 

68 
69 
70 

74 
75 
77 
79 
81 

83 

84 

85 

89 

89 

91 

93 

94 

95 

96 

99 

103 

104 

105 

107 

109 

112 

115 
116 
120 
121 
122 
123 
124 
125 
126 
130 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


XI 


General  Fevrier  Turned  Traitor  (Leech) 

Rochefort  and  His  Lantern 

Brothers  in  Arms 

An  American  Cartoon  on  the  Crimean  War 

Theatrical   Programme 

The  British  Lion's  Vengeance  (Tenniel) 

The  French  Porcupine  (Leech) 

Bank-Oh's  Ghost,  1837 

Balaam  and   Balaam's  Ass 

New  Map  of  the  United  States 

The  Steeplechase  for  1844 

Uncle  Sam's  Taylorifics 

The  Mexican  Commander 

Defense  of  the  California  Bank 

The  Presidential  Foot  Race     . 

Presidential  Campaign  of  '56 

No  Higher  Law     . 

The  Fugitive  Slave  Law 

The  Great  Disunion  Serpent 

Rough  and  Ready  Locomotive  Against  the  Field 

Sauce  for  Goose  and  Gander 

Peace   ( Nast ) 

Virginia   Pausing 

Civil  War  Envelopes 

Long  Abe 

The  Promissory  Note 

The  Great  Tight  Rope  Feat 

At  the  Throttle     . 

The  Expert  Bartender 

The  Southern  Confederacy  a  Fact 

The   Brighter   Prospect 

"Why  Don't  you  Take  It?" 

The  Old  Hull  Dog  on  the  Right  Track 

Little  Mac  in  his  Great  Act 

The  Grave  of  the  Union 

The  Abolition  Catastrophe     . 

The   Blockade 

Miscegenation 

The  ConfrdcracN'  in   Petticoats 


PAGE 

131 
133 
134 
136 
138 

139 
141 

144 

144 

145 

147 
150 

151 

153 

153 

154 

155 

157 

158 

160 

162 

164 

166 

167 

168 

169 

170 

171 

172 

173 

174 

175 

176 

178 
180 
181 
182 
183 
184 


Xll 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Uncle  Sam's  Menao^erie 

Protecting  Free  Ballot 

The  Nation  at  Lincoln's  Bier  (Tenniel) 

Figures  from  a  Triumph 

The  Diagnosis   (Cham) 

The  Egerean  Nymph   (Daumier) 

Paul  and  Virginia  (Gill) 

The  First  Conscript  of  France  (Gill) 

The  Situation   (Gill) 

Louis  Blanc   (Gill) 

Rival  Arbiters   (Tenniel) 

The  Man  Who  Laughs  (Gill)       . 

The  IVIan  Who  Thinks  (Gill)       . 

"To  Be  or  Not  to  Be"  (Gill)       . 

Achilles  in  Retreat  (Gill) 

The  President  of  Rhodes  (Daumier) 

A  Tempest  in  a  Glass  of  Water  (Gill) 

A  Duel  to  the  Death  (Tenniel) 

September  4th,   1870 

Her  Baptism  of  Fire  (Tenniel) 

Andre  Gill  .... 

The  ALarquis  de  Gallifet  (WiUette) 

The  History  of  a  Reign   (Daumier) 

"  This  has  Killed  That  "  (Daumier) 

The  Mousetrap  and  its  Victims   (Daumier) 

Prussia  Annexes  Alsace   (Cham) 

Britannia's   Sympathy    (Cham) 

Adieu  (Cham)        .... 

Souvenirs  and  Regrets  (Aranda) 

The  Napoleon  Mountebanks  (Hadol) 

Prussia  Introducing  the  New  Assembly  (Daum 

"  Let  us  Eat  the  Prussian  "   (Gill) 

Design  for  a  New  Handbell  (Daumier) 

Germany's   Farewell 

Bismarck  the  First 

Trochu — 1870        .... 

Marshal  Bazaine    (Faustin) 

Rochefort  .... 

The  German  Emperor  Enters  Paris  (Regamey) 


ier) 


PAGE 

185 
186 

187 
189 
190 
191 
192 
193 

195 
197 

198 

199 

200 

201 

202 

203 

204 

205 

206 

207 

208 

209 

210 

21 1 

21 1 

213 
214 
215 
216 
217 
219 
220 
222 
223 
224 
225 
226 
227 
228 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


XIU 


Caran   D'Ache 
Gulliver  Crispi 
Changing  the  Map  (Gill) 
Poor  France!  (Daumier) 
The  Warning  (Daumier) 
The  New  Year  (Daumier) 
The  Root  of  all  Evil       . 
The   Napoleonic   Drama 
The  French  Political  Situation  (Regamey 
New  Crowns  for  Old 
Tightening  the  Grip 
Aeolus 

"  L'Etat,  C'est  Moi  "     . 
The  Hidden  Hand 
The  Irish  Frankenstein 
The  Daring  Duckling    . 
Settling  the  Alabama  Claims 
Gordon  Waiting  at  Khartoum 
The  Gratz  Brown  Tag  to  Greeley's  Coat 
Thomas  Nast 

Labour  Cap  and  Dinner  Pail  (Nast) 
The  Rag  Baby   (Nast) 
The  Inflation  Donkey  (Nast) 
The  Brains  of  Tammany   (Nast) 
A  Popular  Verdict 
The  Tattooed  Columbia  ( Kcppler 
Splitting  the  Party 
The  Headless  Candidates 
(^n   the  Down  Grade 
Forbidding  the  Banns   (Kcppler) 
The  Wake  (Keppler) 
A    Common    Sorrow- 
Why  They  Dislike   Him 
The  First  Tattooed  Man   ((liUam) 
A  German  Idea  of  Irisli  Home  l^ule 
The   New   National    Sexton 
Horatiiis   Cleveland 
Bernard   (liUam      .... 
Joseph   Kcpph'r       .... 


) 


(Nast) 


PAGE 

234 
237 
238 

239 
240 
241 
243 
245 
246 

247 
248 
249 
250 
251 
252 

253 
256 

257 
259 
260 
261 
262 
263 
264 
265 
266 
267 
270 
272 

273 
274 

27s 
279 
280 
281 
282 
283 


XIV 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  John  Bull  Octopus 

The  Hand  of  Anarchy 

The  Triple  Alliance 

A  Present-Day  Lesson 

Gordon  in  Khartoum     . 

The  Spurious  Parnell  Letters 

Dropping  the  Pilot  (Tenniel) 

L'Enfant  Terrible 

William   Bluebeard 

Chinese  Native  Cartoon 

Japan  in  Corea 

Business  at  the  Deathbed 

The  Start  for  the  China  Cup 

End  of  the  Chinese-Japanese  War 

The  Chinese  Exclusion  Act 

The  Great  Republican  Circus  (Opper) 

To  the  Rescue       .... 

A  Pilgrim's  Progress 

General   Boulanger 

The  Hague  Peace  Conference 

A  Fixture      ..... 

Group  of  Modern  French  Caricaturists 

The  Anglo-French  War  Barometer 

Rip  Van  Winkle  Awakes 

They're  Off  .... 

Where  am  I  at?  (Gillam) 

The  Political  Columbus  (Gillam) 

Cleveland's  Map  of  the  United  States  (Gillam) 

Return  of  the  Southern  Flags  (Gillam) 

The  Champion  Masher   (Gillam) 

The  Harrison  Platform   (Keppler) 

The  Chilian  Affair 

A  Political  Tam  O'Shanter  (Gillam) 

Don  Quixote  Bryan  and  the  Windmill  ( 

Outing  of  the  Anarchists 

To  the  Death 

The  Great  Weyler  Ape 

We  are  the  People 

Be  Careful!     It's  Loaded   (Victor  Gillam) 


Victor  Gillam) 


PAGE 

285 
286 
287 
290 
291 
291 
292 
293 
294 
295 
296 
297 
297 
298 
299 
300 
301 
302 
303 
303 
304 
305 
307 
310 

311 
312 

314 
315 
317 
319 
320 
322 

324 
325 
326 

327 
328 

329 
331 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


XV 


The  Safety  Valve 

The  Latest  War  Bulletin  (Hamilton) 

Spanish  Cartoons  of  the  Spanish-American  War 

The  Spanish  Brute  (Hamilton)  . 

Spanish  Cartoons  of  the  Spanish-American  War 

The  Rhodes  Colossus  (Sambourne) 

The  Situation  in  South  Africa  (Gillam) 

Bloody  Cartography 

Lady  ]\lacbeth 

The   Flying  Dutchman 

Oom   Paul's  Favorite  Pastime 

Up  against  the  Breastworks   . 

The  Napoleon  of  South  Africa 

Fire!  .... 

The  Last  Phase  of  the  Dreyfus  Cas 

Toward   Freedom 

The  French  General's  Staf^    . 

Between  Scylla  and  Charybdis 

Devil's  Island 

C.  G.  Bush 

Willie  and  His  Papa  (Opper) 

Homer    Davenport 

Davenport's  Conception  of  the  Trusts 


PAGE 

333 

334 

335 

337 

339 

342 

343 

344 

345 

346 

347 

348 

349 

350 

350 

351 

352 

353 

354 

356 

357 
359 
361 


HISTORY  OF    THE    NINETEENTH 
CENTURY    IN    CARICATURE 


PART  I 

THE  NAPOLEONIC  ERA 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    BEGINNING  OF  POLITICAL  CARICATURE 


"W  "W"  'T'HILE'  the  impulse  to  satirize  public  men  in 
^  ^L  I  picture  is  probably  as  old  as  satiric  verse,  if  not 
W  W  older,  the  political  cartoon,  as  an  effective  agent 
in  molding  public  opinion,  is  essentially  a  product  of  modern 
conditions  and  methods.  As  with  the  campaign  song,  its 
success  depends  upon  its  timeliness,  upon  the  ability  to  seize 
upon  a  critical  moment,  a  burning  question  of  the  hour,  and 
anticipate  the  outcome  while  public  excitement  is  still  at  a 
white  heat.  But  unlike  satiric  verse,  it  is  dependent  upon  ink 
and  paper.  It  cannot  be  transmitted  orally.  The  doggerel 
verses  of  the  Roman  legions  passed  from  camp  to  camp  with 
the  mysterious  swiftness  of  an  epidemic,  and  found  their  way 
even  into  the  sober  history  ot  Suetonius.  i  he  topical  songs 
and  parodies  of  the  Middle  Ages  migrated  from  town  to 
town  with  the  strolling  minstrels,  as  readily  as  tlid  the  cycles 
of  heroic  poetry.  But  with  caricature  the  case  was  very 
different.  It  may  be  that  the  man  of  the  Stone  Age,  whom 
Mr.  Opper  has  lately  utilized  so  cleverly  in  a  series  of  carica- 


2  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

tures,  was  the  first  to  draw  rude  and  distorted  likenesses  of 
some  unpopidar  chieftain,  just  as  the  Roman  soldier  of  79 
A.  D.  scratched  on  the  wall  of  his  barracks  in  Pompeii  an 
unflattering  portrait  of  some  martinet  centurion  which  the 
ashes  of  \'esuvius  have  preserved  until  to-day.  It  is  certain 
that  the  Greeks  and  Romans  appreciated  the  power  of  ridi- 
cule latent  in  satiric  pictures;  but  until  the  era  of  the  printing 
press,  the  caricaturist  was  as  one  crying  in  a  wilderness.  And 
it  is  only  with  the  modern  co-operation  of  printing  and  pho- 
tography that  caricature  has  come  into  its  full  inheritance. 
The  best  and  most  telling  cartoons  are  those  which  do  not 
merely  reflect  current  public  opinion,  but  guide  it.  In  look- 
ing back  over  a  century  of  caricature,  we  are  apt  to  overlook 
this  distinction.  A  cartoon  which  cleverly  illustrates  some 
important  historical  event,  and  throws  light  upon  the  con- 
temporary  attitude  of  the  public,  is  equally  interesting  to-day, 
whether  it  anticipated  the  event  or  was  published  a  month 
afterward.  But  in  order  to  influence  public  opinion,  carica- 
ture must  contain  a  certain  element  of  prophecy.  It  must 
suggest  a  danger  or  point  an  interrogation.  As  an  example, 
we  may  compare  two  famous  cartoons  by  the  English  artist 
Gillray,  "  A  Connoisseur  Examining  a  Cooper "  and  the 
"  King  of  Brobdingnag  and  Gulliver."  In  the  latter,  George 
III..  In  the  guise  of  a  giant,  is  curiously  examining  through 
his  magnifying  glass  a  Lilliputian  Napoleon.  There  is  no 
element  of  prophecy  about  the  cartoon.  It  simply  reflects 
the  contemptuous  attitude  of  the  time  toward  Napoleon,  and 
underestimates  the  danger.  The  other  cartoon,  which  ap- 
peared several  years  earlier,  shows  the  King  anxiously  ex- 
amining the  features  of  Cooper's  well-known  miniature  of 
Cromwell,  the  great  overthrower  of  kings.  Public  sentiment 
at  that  time  suggested  the  imminence  of  another  revolution, 


4  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

and  the  cartoon  suggests  a  momentous  question:  "Will  the 
fate  of  Charles  I.  be  repeated?  "  In  the  light  of  history,  the 
Gulliver  cartoon  is  to-day  undoubtedly  the  more  interesting, 
but  at  the  time  of  its  appearance  it  could  not  have  produced 
anything  approaching  the  sensation  of  that  of  "  a  Connois- 
seur." 

The  necessity  of  getting  a  caricature  swiftly  before  the  pub- 
lic has  always  been  felt,  and  has  given  rise  to  some  curious 
devices  and  makeshifts.  In  the  example  which  we  have  noted 
as  having  come  down  from  Roman  times,  a  patriotic  citizen 
of  Pompeii  could  find  no  better  medium  for  giving  his  car- 
toon of  an  important  local  event  to  the  world  than  by  scratch- 
ing it  upon  the  wall  of  his  dwelling-house  after  the  fashion  of 
the  modern  advertisement.  There  was  a  time  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  when  packs  of  political  playing-cards  enjoyed 
an  extended  vogue.  The  fashion  of  printing  cartoons  upon 
ladies'  fans  and  other  articles  of  similarly  intimate  character 
was  a  transitory  fad  in  England  a  century  ago.  Mr.  Acker- 
mann,  a  famous  printer  of  his  generation,  and  publisher  of 
the  greater  part  of  Rowlandson's  cartoons,  adopted  as  an 
expedient  for  spreading  political  news  a  small  balloon  with  an 
attached  mechanism,  which,  when  liberated,  would  drop  news 
bulletins  at  intervals  as  it  passed  over  field  and  village.  In  this 
country  many  people  of  the  older  generation  will  still  remem- 
ber the  widespread  popularity  of  the  patriotic  caricature-en- 
velopes that  were  circulated  during  the  Civil  War.  To-day 
we  are  so  used  to  the  daily  newspaper  cartoon  that  we  do  not 
stop  to  think  how  seriously  handicapped  the  cartoonists  of  a 
century  ago  found  themselves.  The  more  important  cartoons 
of  Gillray  and  Rowlandson  appeared  either  in  monthly  peri- 
odicals, such  as  the  H'estm'uister  Majrazine  and  the  Oxford 
Magazine,  or  in  separate  sheets  that  sold  at  the  prohibitive 


'■/  ' 


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> 

^ 

^  ^ 

^ 

S^i 

5  "^ 

CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


price  of  several  shillings.  In  times  of  great  public  excite- 
ment, as  during  the  later  years  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  such 
cartoons  were  bought  up  greedily,  the  City  vying  with  the 
aristocratic  West  End  in  their  patriotic  demand  for  them. 
But  such  times  were  exceptional,  and  the  older  caricaturists 
were  obliged  to  let  pass  many  interesting  crises  because  the 
situations  would  have  become  already  stale  before  the  day 


'.oTtKmCuV^ou  uylUvr.  Ji^  Ihurs  ifijT  .'.anting  m,.  1/ic.Sritilhroitff.    ■'   ■       '' 


ic  Sriti/h  L'o'ift. 


>->■ 


„.l,„.- V)nr  ('i.;J'  -/JoUyBvU  ikw' 


i„  tiunA  ''"•', /'-/inT.f/y,, 


f  '"•"U 


u-w  sulfa-  Ihfu  LffvJTurm  I   '""»'■ 


■  dl.,  jt^nti<.'l,  il -l^t  .^tftklAni\tt>    tr.fiUltt, 


of  publication  of  the  monthly  magazines  came  round.  With 
the  advent  of  the  illustrated  weeklies  the  situation  was  im- 
proved, but  it  is  only  in  recent  times  that  the  ideal  condition 
has  been  reached,  when  the  cabled  news  of  yesterday  is 
interpreted  in  the  cartoon  of  to-day. 

There  is  another  and  less  specific  reason  w^hy  caricature 
had  to  await  the  advent  of  printing  and  the  wider  dissem- 
ination of  knowledge  which  resulted.    The  successful  political 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  7 

cartoon  presupposes  a  certain  average  degree  of  intelligence 
in  a  nation,  an  awakened  civic  conscience,  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility for  the  nation's  welfare.  The  cleverest  cartoonist 
would  waste  his  time  appealing  to  a  nation  of  feudal  vassals; 
he  could  not  expect  to  influence  a  people  to  whom  the  ballot 
box  was  closed.  Caricature  flourishes  best  in  an  atmosphere 
of  democracy;  there  is  an  eternal  incompatibility  between  its 
audacious  Irreverence  and  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of 
kings. 

And  yet  the  best  type  of  caricature  should  not  require  a 
high  degree  of  intelligence.  Many  clever  cartoonists  over- 
reach themseh'es  by  an  excess  of  cleverness,  appealing  at  best 
to  a  limited  audience.  Of  this  type  are  the  cartoons  whose 
point  lies  in  parodying  some  famous  painting  or  a  masterpiece 
of  literature,  which,  as  a  result,  necessarily  remains  caviare  to 
the  general.  There  is  a  type  of  portrait  caricature  so  cul- 
tured and  subtle  that  it  often  produces  likenesses  truer  to  the 
man  we  know  in  real  life  than  a  photograph  would  be.  A 
good  example  of  this  type  is  the  familiar  work  of  William 
Nicholson,  whose  portrait  of  the  late  Queen  of  England  is 
said  to  have  been  recognized  by  her  as  one  of  the  most  char- 
acteristic pictures  she  had  ever  had  taken.  What  appeals  to 
the  public,  however,  is  a  coarser  type,  a  gross  exaggeration  of 
prominent  features,  a  willful  distortion,  resulting  in  ridicule 
or  glorification.  Oftentimes  the  caricature  degenerates  into 
a  mere  symbol.  We  have  outgrown  the  puerility  of  the 
pictorial  pun  which  flourished  in  Juigland  at  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  when  cartoonists  of  (iilh-ay's  rank  were 
content  to  represent  Lord  Bute  as  a  pair  of  boots,  Lord  North 
as  Boreas,  the  north  wind,  and  the  elder  l'\)x  with  the  head 
and  tail  of  the  animal  suggested  by  his  name.  Yet  personi- 
fication ol  one  kiiul  and  another,  and  notablv  the  personifica- 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  9 

tion  of  the  nations  in  the  shape  of  John  Bull  and  Uncle  Sam 
and  the  Russian  Bear,  forms  the  very  alphabet  of  political 
caricature  of  the  present  day.  Some  of  the  most  memo- 
rable series  that  have  ever  appeared  were  founded  upon  a 
chance  resemblance  of  the  subject  of  them  to  some  natural 
object.  Notable  instances  are  Daumier's  famous  series 
of  Louis  Philippe  represented  as  a  pear,  and  Nast's 
equally  clever,  but  more  local,  caricatures  of  Tweed 
as  a  money-bag.  It  would  be  interesting,  if  the  material 
were  accessible,  to  trace  the  development  of  the  different 
personifications  of  England,  France,  and  Russia,  and  the 
rest,  from  their  hrst  appearance  in  caricature,  but  unfortu- 
nately their  earlier  development  cannot  be  fully  traced. 
The  underlying  Idea  of  representing  the  different  nations  as 
individuals,  and  depicting  the  great  international  crises  in  a 
series  of  allegories  or  parables  or  animal  stories — a  sort  of 
pictorial  ^^sop's  fables — dates  back  to  the  very  beginning 
of  caricature.  In  one  of  the  earliest  cartoons  that  have  been 
preserved,  England,  France,  and  a  number  of  minor  princi- 
palities which  have  since  disappeared  from  the  map  of 
Europe,  are  represented  as  playing  a  game  of  cards  with 
some  disputed  island  possessions  as  the  stakes.  In  this  case 
the  several  nations  are  Indicated  merely  by  heraldic  emblems. 
The  conception  of  John  Bull  was  not  to  be  evolved  until  a 
couple  of  centuries  later.  This  cartoon,  like  the  others  of 
that  time,  originated  in  France  under  Louis  XII.  The  fur- 
ther development  of  the  art  was  dcclsl\cly  checked  under  the 
despotic  reign  of  Fouls  Xl\'.,  and  the  few  caricaturists  of  that 
time  who  hatl  the  courage  to  use  their  pencil  against  the  king 
were  dri\en  to  the  expedient  ot  pubhshing  their  works  in 
Holland. 

An    Impressi\e    Illustration    ol    the    adxantage    which    the 


lo  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

satirical  poet  has  over  the  cartoonist  hes  in  the  fact  that 
some  of  the  cleverest  political  satire  ever  written,  as  well  as 
the  best  examples  of  the  application  of  the  animal  fable  to 
politics,  were  produced  in  France  at  this  very  time  in  the 
fables  of  La  Fontaine. 


'■■'  ■  r-n 


vi{l,  n,  Pt/t  at  li-t  l'">>^tjlul:i>iuil  1',^,,  nJioltJi   ofilu  /lOt  lu^n  -i-iiL  lua  Ciov'<i 


I!Y     (;il,l.KAY. 


CHAPTER  II 

HOGARTH  AND   HIS   TIMES 

FROM  Holland  caricature  migrated  to  Great 
Britain  in  the  closing  years  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury— a  natural  result  of  the  attention  which 
Dutch  cartoonists  had  bestowed  upon  the  revolution  of  1688 
— and  there  it  found  a  fertile  and  congenial  soil.  The 
English  had  not  had  time  to  forget  that  they  had  once  put 
the  divine  right  of  kings  to  the  test  of  the  executioner's  block, 
and  what  little  reverence  still  survived  was  not  likely  to  afford 
protection  for  a  race  of  imported  monarchs.  Moreover,  as  it 
happened,  the  developm.ent  of  English  caricature  was  des- 
tined, to  be  guided  by  the  giant  genius  of  two  men,  Hogarth 
and  Gillray;  and  however  far  apart  these  two  men  were  In 
their  moral  and  artistic  standards,  they  had  one  thing  in 
common,  a  perennial  scorn  for  the  House  of  Hanover. 
Hogarth's  contemptuous  satire  of  George  II.  was  more  than 
echoed  in  Gillray's  merciless  attacks  upon  George  III.  The 
well-known  cartoons  of  "  Farmer  George,"  and  "  George  the 
Button-Maker,"  were  but  two  of  the  countless  ways  in  which 
he  avenged  himself  upon  the  dull-witted  king  who  had  once 
acknowledged  that  he  could  not  see  the  point  of  Gillray's 
caricatures. 

Although  Hogarth  antedates  the  period  covered  by  the 
present  articles  by  fully  half  a  century,  he  is  much  too  com- 
manding a  figure  in  the  history  of  comic  art  to  be  summarily 
dismissed.   The  year   1720  marks  the  era  of  the  so-called 

"  bubble  mania,"  the  era  of  unprecedented  inflation,  of  the 

12 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  13 

South  Sea  Company  in  London,  and  the  equally  notorious 
Mississippi  schemes  of  John  Law  in  France.  Popular  excite- 
ment found  vent  in  a  veritable  deluge  of  cartoons,  many  of 
which  originated  in  Amsterdam  and  were  reprinted  in  Lon- 
don, often  with  the  addition  of  explanatory  satiric  verses  in 
English.  In  one,  Fortune  is  represented  riding  in  a  car  driven 
by  Folly,  and  drawn  by  personifications  of  the  different  com- 
panies responsible  for  the  disastrous  epidemic  of  speculation: 
the  Mississippi,  limping  along  on  a  wooden  leg;  the  South 
Sea,  with  its  foot  in  splints,  etc.  In  another,  we  have  an 
imaginary  map  of  the  Southern  seas,  representing  "  the  very 
famous  island  of  Madhead,  situated  in  Share  Sea,  and 
inhabited  by  all  kinds  of  people,  to  which  is  given  the  general 
name  of  Shareholders."  John  Law  came  in  for  a  major 
share  of  the  caricaturist's  attention.  In  one  picture  he  is 
represented  as  assisting  Atlas  to  bear  up  immense  globes  of 
wind;  in  another,  he  is  a  "wind-monopolist,"  declaring, 
"  The  wind  is  my  treasure,  cushion,  and  foundation.  Master 
of  the  v.ind,  I  am  master  of  life,  and  my  wind  monopoly 
becomes  straightway  the  object  of  idolatry."  The  iiiudy 
character  of  the  share-business  is  the  dominant  note  in  the 
cartoons  of  the  period.  Bubbles,  windmills,  flying  kites, 
play  a  prominent  part  in  the  detail  with  which  the  background 
of  the  typical  Dutch  caricature  was  always  crowded.  These 
cartoons,  displayed  conspicuously  in  London  shop  windows, 
were  not  only  seen  by  Ilogarth,  but  influenced  him  \itallv. 
His  earliest  known  essay  in  political  caricature  is  an  adapta- 
tion of  one  of  these  Dutch  prints,  representing  the  wheel 
of  F^ortune,  bearing  the  luckless  and  infatuated  speculators 
high  aloft.  I  lis  latest  work  still  shows  the  influence  of 
Holland  in  the  endless  wealth  of  minute  detail,  the  painstak- 
ing elaboration  ot  his  backgrountls,  in  which  the  most  patient 


w    ■a' 
c    > 


« 

D 

H 
P. 
< 

w 

X 


,   =< 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  15 

examination  is  ever  finding  something  new.  With  Hogarth, 
the  overcharged  method  of  the  Dutch  school  became  a 
medium  for  irrepressible  genius.  At  the  hands  of  his  fol- 
lowers and  imitators,  it  became  a  source  of  obscurity  and 
confusion. 

While  Hogarth  is  rightly  recognized  as  the  father  of 
English  caricature,  it  must  be  remembered  that  his  best  work 
was  done  on  the  social  rather  than  on  the  political  side.  Even 
his  most  famous  political  series,  that  of  "  The  Elections,"  is 
broadly  generalized.  It  is  not  in  any  sense  campaign  litera- 
ture, but  an  exposition  of  contemporary  manners.  And  this 
was  always  Hogarth's  aim.  He  was  by  instinct  a  realist,  en- 
dowed with  a  keen  sense  of  humor — a  quality  in  which  many  a 
modern  realist  is  deficient.  He  satirized  life  as  he  saw  it,  the 
good  and  the  bad  together,  with  a  frankness  which  at  times 
was  somewhat  brutal,  like  the  frankness  of  Fielding  and  of 
Smollett — the  frankness  of  the  age  they  lived  in.  It  was 
essentially  an  outspoken  age,  robust  and  rather  gross;  a  red- 
blooded  age,  nurtured  on  English  beef  and  beer;  a  jovial 
age  that  shook  its  sides  over  many  a  broad  jest,  and  saw  no 
shame  in  open  allusion  to  the  obvious  and  elemental  facts  of 
physical  life.  Judged  by  the  standards  of  his  day,  there  is 
little  offense  in  Hogarth's  work;  even  when  measured  by 
our  own,  he  is  not  deliberately  licentious.  On  the  contrary, 
he  set  an  example  of  moderation  which  his  successors  would 
have  done  well  to  imitate.  Ele  realized,  as  the  later  carica- 
turists of  his  century  diil  not,  that  the  great  strength  of  pic- 
torial satire  lies  in  ridicule  rather  than  in  invective;  that  the 
subtlest  irony  often  lies  in  a  close  adherence  to  truth,  where 
riotous  and  unrestrained  exaggeration  defeats  its  own  end. 
Just  as  in  the  case  of  "  Joseph  Andrews,"  Fielding's  creative 
instinct  got  the  upi)er  hand  of  the  parodist,  so  in  much  of 


o 


4 


Q 
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o 


O 


o 


i    ? 


X 
■n 

2 


2 


3 
Z 


35 
< 

z 

o 

-■Q 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  17 

Hogarth's  work  one  feels  that  the  caricaturist  is  forced  to 
yield  place  to  the  realistic  artist,  the  student  of  human  life, 
carried  away  by  the  interest  of  the  story  he  has  to  tell.  His 
chief  gift  to  caricature  is  his  unprecedented  development  of 
the  narrative  quality  in  pictorial  art.  He  pointed  a  road 
along  which  his  imitators  could  follow  him  only  at  a  distance. 

With  the  second  hall  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  began 
an  era  of  great  license  in  the  political  press,  an  era  of  bitter 
vituperation  and  vile  personal  abuse.  Hogarth  was  one  of 
the  chief  sufferers.  After  holding  aloof  from  partisan  poli- 
tics for  nearly  half  a  century,  he  published,  in  1762,  his 
well-known  cartoon  attacking  the  ex-minister,  Pitt.  All 
Europe  is  represented  in  flames,  which  are  spreading  to 
Great  Britain  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  Lord  Bute,  aided  bv  his 
Highlanders,  to  extinguish  them.  Pitt  is  blowing  upon  the 
flames,  which  are  being  fed  by  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  from 
a  barrow  full  of  Monitors  and  North  Britons,  two  scurrilous 
papers  of  the  day.  The  bitterness  with  which  Hogarth  was 
attacked  in  retaliation  and  the  persistence  of  his  persecutors 
resulted,  as  was  generally  believed  at  the  time,  in  a  broken 
heart  and  his  death  in  1764. 

An  amazing  increase  In  the  number  of  caricatures  followed 
the  entry  of  Lord  Bute's  ministry  into  power.  They  were 
distinguished  chiefly  by  their  poor  execution  and  gross  inde- 
cency. As  early  as  1762,  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  itself 
none  too  immaculate,  complains  that  "  Many  of  the  repre- 
sentations that  have  lately  appeared  In  the  shops  are  not  only 
reproachful  to  the  government,  but  oftensive  to  common- 
sense;  they  diSL()\cr  a  tcndcnc\'  to  iiillamc,  without  a  spark 
of  lire  to  light  their  own  combustion."  The  state  of  society 
In  England  was  at  this  time  notoriously  Immoral  and  licen- 
tious.    It  was  a  period  ot   hard  li\  Iiig  and  hard  drinking. 


i8  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

The  well-known  habits  of  such  public  figures  as  Sheridan  and 
Fox  are  eminent  examples.  The  spirit  of  gambling  had 
become  a  mania,  and  women  had  caught  the  contagion  as  well 
as  men.  Nowhere  was  the  profligacy  of  the  times  more 
clearly  shown  than  in  the  looseness  of  public  social  functions, 
such  as  the  notorious  masquerade  balls,  which  a  contemporary 
journal,  the  IFestminster  Magazine,  seriously  decried  as 
"  subversive  of  virtue  and  every  noble  and  domestic  point  of 
honor."  The  low  standards  of  morals  and  want  of  delicacy 
are  revealed  in  the  extravagance  of  women's  dress,  the  loose- 
ness of  their  speech.  It  was  an  age  when  women  of  rank,  such 
as  Lady  Buckingham  and  Lady  Archer,  were  publicly  threat- 
ened bv  an  eminent  judge  with  exposure  on  the  pillory  for 
having  systematically  enticed  young  men  and  robbed  them  at 
their  faro  tables,  and  afterward  found  themselves  exposed  In 
the  pillory  of  popular  opinion  in  scurrilous  cartoons  from 
shop  windows  all  over  London. 


CHAPTER  III 

JAMES   GILLRAY 

^  T  a  time  when  cheap  abuse  took  the  place  of 
/  ^  technical  skill,  and  vulgarity  passed  for  wit,  a 
/  ^  man  of  unlimited  audacity,  who  was  also  a  con- 
summate master  of  his  pencil,  easily  took  precedence.  Such 
a  man  was  James  Gillray,  unquestionably  the  leading  cartoon- 
ist of  the  reign  of  George  III.  Yet  of  the  many  who  are 
to-day  familiar  with  the  name  of  Gillray  and  the  important 
part  he  played  in  influencing  public  opinion  during  the 
struggle  with  Napoleon,  very  few  have  an  understanding  of 
the  dominant  qualities  of  his  work.  A  large  part  of  it,  and 
probably  the  most  representative  part,  is  characterized  by  a 
foulness  and  an  obscenity  which  the  present  generation  cannot 
countenance.  There  is  a  whole  series  of  cartoons  bearing  his 
name  which  it  would  not  only  be  absolutely  out  of  the  ques- 
tion to  reproduce,  but  the  very  nature  of  which  can  be  indi- 
cated only  in  the  most  guarded  manner.  Imagine  the  works 
of  Rabelais  shamelessly  illustrated  by  a  master  hand!  Try 
to  conceive  of  the  nature  of  the  pictures  which  Panurge 
chalked  up  on  the  walls  of  old  Paris.  It  was  not  merely  the 
fault  of  the  times,  as  in  the  case  of  Hogarth.  Public  taste  was 
sufficiently  depraved  already;  but  Gillray  deliberately  prosti- 
tuted his  genius  to  the  level  of  a  procurer,  to  debauch  it 
further.  From  first  to  last  his  drawings  impress  one  as 
emanating  from  a  mind  not  only  unclean,  but  unbalanced  as 
well — a  mind  over  which  there  hung,  even  at  the  beginning, 
the  furtive  shadow  of  that  madness  which  at  last  overtook 

20 


D 

D 

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m 

C      ? 

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<; 
z 

o 

Pi 
o 
o 

<: 

tc 
ai 
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W 
X 


22  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

and  blighted  him.  There  is  but  one  of  the  hallmarks  of  great 
caricature  in  the  work  of  Gillray,  and  that  is  the  lasting 
impression  which  they  make.  They  refuse  to  be  forgotten; 
they  remain  imprinted  on  the  brain,  like  the  obsession  of  a 
nightmare.  While  in  one  sense  they  stand  as  a  pitiless 
indictment  of  the  generation  that  tolerated  them,  they  are  not 
a  reflection  of  the  life  that  Gillray  saw,  except  in  the  sense 
that  their  physical  deformity  symbolizes  the  moral  foulness 
of  the  age.  Grace  and  charm  and  physical  beauty,  which 
Hogarth  could  use  eftectiv^ely,  are  unknown  quantities  to 
Gillray.  There  is  an  element  of  monstrosity  about  all  his 
figures,  distorted  and  repellent.  Foul,  bloated  faces;  twisted, 
swollen  limbs;  unshapely  figures  whose  protuberant  flesh 
suggests  a  tumefied  and  fungoid  growth — such  is  the  brood 
begotten  by  Gillray's  pencil,  like  the  malignant  spawn  of  some 
forgotten  circle  of  the  lower  inferno. 

It  would  be  idle  to  dispute  the  far-reaching  power  of 
Gillray's  genius,  perverted  though  it  was.  Throughout  the 
Napoleonic  wars,  caricature  and  the  name  of  Gillray  are  con- 
vertible terms;  for,  even  after  he  was  forced  to  lay  down  his 
pencil,  his  brilliant  contemporaries  and  successors,  Rowland- 
son  and  Cruikshank,  found  themselves  unable  to  throw  off 
the  fetters  of  his  influence.  No  history  of  Napoleon  is  quite 
complete  which  fails  to  recognize  Gillray  as  a  potent  factor  in 
crystallizing  public  opinion  in  England.  His  long  series  of 
cartoons  aimed  at  "  little  Boney  "  are  the  culminating  work 
of  his  life.  Their  power  lay,  not  in  intellectual  subtlety  or 
brilliant  scintillation  of  wit,  but  in  the  bitterness  of  their 
invective,  the  appeal  they  make  to  elemental  passions.  They 
spoke  a  language  which  the  roughest  of  London  mobs  could 
understand — the  language  of  the  gutter.  They  were,  many 
of  them,  masterpieces  of  pictorial  Billingsgate. 


z 


=    =Ci- 


'■I     A     ;l'V//7  ^ 


< 


z 


24  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

There  is  rancor,  there  is  venom,  there  is  the  inevitable 
inheritance  of  the  warfare  of  centuries,  in  these  caricatures  of 
GiHray,  but  above  all  there  is  fear — fear  of  Napoleon,  of  his 
genius,  of  his  star.  It  has  been  very  easy  for  Englishmen  of 
later  days  to  say  that  the  French  never  could  have  crossed 
the  Channel,  that  there  was  never  any  reason  for  disquiet; 
it  was  another  matter  in  the  days  when  troops  were  actually 
massing  by  thousands  on  the  hills  behind  Boulogne.  You 
can  find  this  fear  voiced  everywhere  in  Gillray,  in  the  discord- 
ance between  the  drawings  and  the  text.  John  Bull  is  the  ox, 
Bonaparte  the  contemptible  frog;  but  it  is  usually  the  ox  who 
is  bellowing  out  defiance,  daring  the  other  to  "  come  on," 
flinging  down  insult  at  the  diminutive  foe.  "  Let  'em  come, 
damme !  "  shouts  the  bold  Briton  in  the  pictures  of  the  time. 
"  Damme!  where  are  the  French  bugaboos?  Single-handed 
I'll  beat  forty  of  'em,  damme !  "  Every  means  was  used  to 
rouse  the  spirit  of  the  English  nation,  and  to  stimulate  hatred 
of  the  French  and  their  leader.  In  one  picture,  Boney  and 
his  family  are  in  rags,  and  are  gnawing  raw  bones  in  a  rude 
Corsican  hut;  in  another  we  find  him  with  a  hookah  and  tur- 
ban, having  adopted  the  Mahometan  religion;  in  a  third 
we  see  him  murdering  the  sick  at  Joppa.  In  the  caricatures 
of  Gillray,  Napoleon  is  always  a  monster,  a  fiend  in  human 
shape,  craven  and  murderous;  but  when  dealing  with  the 
question  of  this  fiend's  power  for  evil,  Gillray  made  no 
attempt  at  consistency.  This  ogre,  who  through  one  series 
of  pictures  was  represented  as  kicked  about  from  boot  to 
boot,  kicked  by  the  Spaniards,  the  Turks,  the  Austrians,  the 
Prussians,  the  Russians,  in  another  is  depicted  as  being  very 
dangerous  indeed.  A  curious  example  of  this  inconsistency 
will  be  found  in  placing  side  by  side  the  two  cartoons  consid- 
ered by  many  to  be  Giilray's  best:  "  The  King  of  Brobding- 


'  la,  I  ''I'.-'  ■■  N  '■■)!. 


w 


3    ^ 

< 


26  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

nag  and  Gulliver,"  already  referred  to,  and  "  Tiddy-Doll, 
the  great  French  gingerbread  Maker,  Drawing  out  a  new 
Batch  of  Kings."  The  "  pernicious,  little,  odious  reptile  " 
whom  George  the  Third  is  holding  so  contemptuously  in  the 
hollow  of  his  hand,  in  the  first  caricature,  is  in  the  second 
concededly  of  European  importance. 


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IP     ■         \     Av^     *■*       , 


CHAPTER  IV 

BONAPARTE  AS    FIRST   CONSUL 

FOR  the  first  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  there 
was  but  one  important  source  of  caricature,  and 
one  all-important  subject  —  England  and  Bona- 
parte. America  at  this  time  counted  for  little  in  international 
politics.  The  revolutionary  period  closed  definitely  with  the 
death  of  Washington,  the  one  figure  in  our  national  politics 
who  stood  for  something  definite  in  the  eyes  of  Europe.  Our 
incipient  naval  war  with  France,  which  for  a  moment  threat- 
ened to  assign  us  a  part  in  the  general  struggle  of  the  Powers, 
was  amicably  concluded  before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Throughout  the  JeHersonian  period,  national  anci 
local  satire  and  burlesque  flourished,  atoning  in  quantity  for 
what  it  lacked  in  wit  and  artistic  skill.  Mr.  Parton,  in  his 
"  Caricature  and  Other  Comic  Art,"  finds  but  one  cartoon 
which  he  thinks  it  worth  while  to  cite — Jefferson  kneeling  be- 
fore a  pillar  labeled  "  Altar  of  Gallic  Despotism,"  upon 
which  are  Paine's  "  Age  of  Reason,"  and  the  works  of  Rous- 
seau, \^oltaire,  and  Helvetius,  with  the  demon  of  the  French 
Revolution  crouching  behind  it,  and  the  American  Eagle 
soaring  to  the  sky  bearing  away  the  Constitution  and  the  in- 
dependence of  the  United  States,  and  he  adds  :  "  Pictures  of 
that  nature,  of  great  size,  crowded  with  objects,  emblems,  and 
sentences — an  elaborate  blending  of  burlesque,  allegory,  and 
enigma — Vv^ere  so  much  valued  by  that  generation  that  some 
of  them  were  engraved  upon  copper." 

France,  on  the  contrary,   the  central  stage  of  the  great 

28 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


29 


drama  of  nations,  might  at  this  time  have  produced  a  school 
of  caricaturists  worthy  of  their  opportunity — a  school  that 
would  have  offset  with  its  Gallic  wit  the  heavier  school  of 
British  invective,  and  might  have  furnished  Napoleon  with 
a  strong  weapon  against  his  most  persistent  enemies,  had  he 
not,  with  questionable  wisdom,  sternly  repressed  pictorial 
satire  of  a  political  nature.     As  the  century  opens,  the  drama 


"    lllK    Ixinil.K- FACED     NAI'()LEON. 

From  the  collection  of  John  Leonard  Dudley^  Jr. 


of  the  ensuing  fourteen  years  becomes  clearly  defined;  the 
prologue  has  been  played;  Napoleon's  ambition  in  the  Fast 
has  been  checked,  first  bv  the  Rattle  of  the  Nile,  and  then 
definitely  at  Aboukir,  Henceforth  he  is  to  limit  his  schemes 
of  conquest  to  I'uropc,  and  John  Bull  is  the  only  national 
figure  who  seems  likely  to  attempt  to  check  him.  The  Battle 
of  the  Nile  was  commemorated  by  Gillray,  who  depicted 


30  CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 

Nelson's  victory  in  a  cartoon  entitled  "  Extirpation  of  the 
Plagues  of  Egypt,  Destruction  of  the  Revolutionary  Croco- 
diles, or  the  British  Hero  Cleansing  the  Mouth  of  the  Nile." 
Here  Nelson  is  shown  dispersing  the  French  Heet  treated  as 
crocodiles.  He  has  destroyed  numbers  with  his  cudgel  of 
British  oak;  he  is  beating  down  others;  a  whole  bevy,  with 
hooks  through  their  noses,  are  attached  by  strings  to  the  iron 
hook  which  replaced  his  lost  forearm.  In  the  distance  a 
crocodile  is  bursting  and  casting  tire  and  ruin  on  all  sides. 
This  is  an  allusion  to  the  destruction  of  the  Orient,  the  flag- 
ship of  the  Republican  Admiral,  the  heroic  Brueys,  who  de- 
clined to  quit  his  post  when  literally  cut  to  pieces. 

Another  cartoon  by  Gillray  which  belongs  to  this  period 
is  "  The  F  rench  Consular  Triumvirate  Settling  the  New 
Constitution.''  It  introduces  the  figures  of  Napoleon  and 
his  fellow-consuls,  Cambaceres  and  Lebrun,  who  replaced  the 
very  authors  of  the  new  instrument,  Sieyes  and  Ducos,  quietly 
deposed  by  Napoleon  within  the  year.  The  second  and  third 
consuls  are  provided  with  blank  sheets  of  paper,  for  mere 
form — they  have  only  to  bite  their  pens.  The  Corsican  is 
compiling  a  constitution  in  accordance  with  his  ow^n  views. 
A  band  of  imps  is  beneath  the  table,  forging  new  chains  for 
France  and  for  Europe. 

In  England,  the  Addington  ministry,  which  in  1801  re- 
placed that  of  William  Pitt,  and  are  represented  in  caricature 
as  "  Lilliputian  substitutes  "  lost  in  the  depths  of  Mr.  Pitt's 
jack-boots,  set  out  as  a  peace  ministry  and  entered  into  the 
negotiations  with  Napoleon  which,  in  the  following  March, 
resulted  in  the  Peace  of  Amiens.  Gillray  anticipated  this 
peace  with  several  alarmist  cartoons:  "Preliminaries  of 
Peace,"  representing  John  Bull  being  led  by  the  nose  across 
the  channel  over  a  rotten  plank,  while  Britannia's  shield  and 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


31 


several  valuable  possessions  have  been  cast  aside  into  the 
water;  and  "  Britannia's  Death  Warrant,"  in  which  Britannia 
is  seen  being  dragged  away  to  the  guillotine  by  the  Corsican 
marauder.  The  peace  at  hrst  gave  genuine  satisfaction  In 
England,  but  toward  the  end  of  1802  there  were  growing 
signs  of  popular  discontent,  which  Gillray  voiced  in  "  The 
Nursery,  with  Britannia  Reposing  in  Peace."  Britannia  is 
here  portrayed  as  an  overgrown  baby  in  her  cradle  and  fed 
upon  French  principles  by  Addington,  Lord  Hawkesbury,  and 
Fox.      Still  more  famous  was  his  next  cartoon,  "  The  First 


'■>■■.■ 


THE    TWO    KlXr.S    OF    TERROR. 

After  a  cartoon  by  Roivlaiidsoii. 


Kiss  this  Ten  Years ;  or,  the  Meeting  of  Britannia  and  Citizen 
Francois."  Britannia,  grown  enormously  stout,  her  shield 
and  spear  idly  reposing  against  the  wall,  is  blushing  deeply 
at  his  warm  embrace  and  ardent  expressions  of  joy  : 
"  Madame,  permit  me  to  pay  my  profound  esteem  to  your 
engaging  person,  antl  to  seal  on  \our  di\ine  lips  mv  c\-crlast- 
ing  attachment!  !  !"  She  replies:  ''Monsieur,  you  are 
truly  a  well-bred  gentleman;  and  though  you  make  me  blush, 


32  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

yet  you  kiss  so  delicately  that  I  cannot  refuse  you,  though  I 
was  sure  you  would  deceive  me  again."  In  the  background 
the  portraits  of  King  George  and  Bonaparte  scowl  fiercely  at 
each  other  upon  the  wall.  This  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  very 
few  caricatures  which  Napoleon  himself  heartily  enjoyed. 

From  now  on,  the  cartoons  take  on  a  more  caustic  tone. 
Britannia  is  being  robbed  of  her  cherished  possessions,  even 
Malta  being  on  the  point  of  being  wrested  from  her;  while 
the  bugaboo  of  an  invading  army  looms  large  upon  the 
horizon.  In  one  picture  Britannia,  unexpectedly  attacked 
by  Napoleon's  fleet,  is  awakening  from  a  trance  of  fancied 
peace,  and  praying  that  her  "  angels  and  ministers  of  disgr3.ce 
■defend  her!  "  In  another,  John  Bull,  having  waded  across 
the  water,  is  taunting  little  Boney,  whose  head  just  shows 
above  the  wall  of  his  fortress : 

If  you  mean  to  invade  us,  why  make  such  a  rout  ? 
I  say,  little  Boney,  why  don't  you  come  out  ? 
Yes,  d you,  why  don't  you  come  out? 

In  his  cartoon  called  "  Promised  Horrors  of  the  French 
Invasion ;  or.  Forcible  Reasons  for  Negotiating  a  Regicide 
Peace,"  Gillray  painted  the  imaginary  landing  of  the  French 
in  England.  The  ferocious  legions  are  pouring  from  St. 
James's  Palace,  which  is  in  flames,  and  they  are  marching  past 
the  clubs.  The  practice  of  patronizing  democracy  in  the 
countries  they  had  conquered  has  been  carried  out  by  handing 
over  the  Tories,  the  constitution,  and  the  crown  to  the  Foxite 
reformers  and  the  Whig  party.  The  chief  hostility  of  the 
French  troops  is  directed  against  the  aristocratic  clubs.  An 
indiscriminate  massacre  of  the  members  of  White's  is  pro- 
ceeding in  the  doorways,  on  the  balconies,  and  wherever  the 
republican  levies  have  penetrated.  The  royal  princes  are 
stabbed  and  thrown  into  the  street.     A  rivulet  of  blood  is 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


33 


,r. -..,/-..    ,     0.:-r      ,„A,v/   /?.>„-,./.., 


/V'A- 


"  You  mav  liave  seen  Gillray's  famous  print  of  him— 
in  the  old  wig,  in  the  stout,  old,  hideous  Windsor  uni- 
form— as  the  Kini^  of  Brobdingnag,  peering  at  a  little 
Gulliver,  whom  he  holds  up  in  his  hand,  whilst  in  the 
other  he  has  an  ojiera-glass,  through  which  he  sur- 
veys the  pygmy  ?  Our  fathers  chose  to  set  up  George 
as  the  tvpe  of  a  great  king  ;  and  the  little  Gulliver  was 
the  great  Napoleon." — I'/iacAura/s  "  Four  Georj^fs." 


34  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

running.     In  the  center  of  the  picture  is  a  tree  of  Hberty. 
To  this  tree  Pitt  is  bound,  while  Fox  is  lashing  him. 

The  increasing  venom  of  the  English  cartoons,  and  their 
frequent  coarse  personalities,  caused  no  little  uneasiness  to 
Bonaparte,  until  they  culminated  in  a  famous  cartoon  by 
Gillray,  "  The  Handwriting  on  the  Wall,"  a  broad  satire  on 
Bclshazzar's  feast,  which  was  published  August  24,  1803. 
The  Fi^st  Consul,  his  wife  Josephine,  and  the  members  of  the 
court  are  seated  at  table,  consuming  the  good  things  of  Old 
England.  The  palace  of  St.  James,  transfixed  upon  Napo- 
leon's fork;  the  tower  of  London,  which  one  of  the  convives 
is  swallowing  whole;  the  head  of  King  George  on  a  platter 
inscribed:  ''  Oh,  de  beef  of  Old  England!  "  A  hand  above 
holds  out  the  scales  of  Justice,  in  which  the  legitimate  crown 
of  France  weighs  down  the  red  cap  with  its  attached  chain — 
despotism  misnamed  liberty. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    EMPEROR    AT    HIS    APOGEE 

FOR  the  next  year  parliamentary  strife  at  home, 
fostered  by  Pitt's  quarrel  with  the  Addington 
ministry  on  the  one  hand  and  his  opposition  to  Fox 
on  the  other,  kept  the  cartoonists  busy.  They  found  time, 
however,  to  celebrate  the  coronation  of  Napoleon  as  Emperor 
in  December,  1804.  Gillray  anticipated  the  event  with  a 
cartoon  entitled  "  The  Genius  of  France  Nursing  her  Dar- 
ling," in  which  the  genius,  depicted  as  a  lady  with  blood- 
stained garments  and  a  reeking  spear,  tosses  an  infant  Na- 
poleon, armed  with  a  scepter,  and  vainly  tries  to  check  his 
cries  with  a  rattle  surmounted  by  a  crown. 

Rowlandson,  Gillray's  clever  and  more  artistic  con- 
temporary, commemorated  the  event  itself  in  a  clever  cartoon, 
"  The  Death  of  Madame  Rdpublique,"  published  December 
14,  1804.  The  moribund  Republique  lies  stretched  upon 
her  death-bed,  her  nightcap  adorned  with  the  tricolored 
cockade.  The  Abbe  Sieyes,  in  the  role  of  doctor,  is  exhibit- 
ing the  Emperor,  portrayed  as  a  newborn  infant  in  long 
clothes.  John  Bull,  spectacles  on  nose,  is  regarding  the 
altered  conditions  with  visible  astonishment.  "  Pray,  Mr. 
Abbe  Sieyes,  what  was  the  cause  of  the  poor  lady's  death? 
She  seemed  at  one  time  in  a  tolerable  thriving  way."  "  She 
died  in  childbed,  Mr.  Bull,  after  giving  birth  to  this  little 
Emperor!  " 

This  was  followed  on  the  ist  of  January  by  a  large  satirical 
print  by  Ciillray,  of  "  Vhe  Grand  Coronation  Procession," 

35 


36 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


in  which  the  feature  that  gave  special  offense  was  the  group 
of  three  princesses,  the  Princess  Borghese,the  Princess  Louise, 
and  the  Princess  Joseph  Bonaparte,  arrayed  in  garments  of 
indecent  scantiness,  and  heading  the  procession  as  the  "  three 
imperial  Graces."  The  English  caricatures  of  this  period 
relating  to  the  new  Emperor  and  Empress  are  as  a  rule  not 


KROM    A    GERMAN    CARTOON    OF   THE    PERIOD. 


only  libelous,  but  grossly  coarse.  At  the  same  time,  the 
political  conditions  of  the  times  are  cleverly  hit  off  in  "  The 
Plum  Pudding  in  Danger;  or.  State  Epicures  Taking  un 
Petit  Souper,"  published  February  26,  1805,  which  depicts 
the  rival  pretensions  of  Napoleon  and  Pitt.  They  are  seated 
at  opposite  sides  of  the  table,  the  only  dish  between  them 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  37 

being  the  Globe,  served  up  on  a  shallow  plate  and  resembling 
a  plum  pudding.  Napoleon's  sword  has  sliced  off  the  con- 
tinent— France,  Holland,  Spain,  Italy,  Prussia — and  his  fork 
is  dug  spitefully  into  Hanover,  which  was  then  an  appanage 
of  the  British  crown.  Pitt's  trident  is  stuck  in  the  ocean,  and 
his  carver  is  modestly  dividing  the  Globe  down  the  middle. 

During  the  summer  of  1805  the  third  coalition  against 
France  was  completed,  its  chief  factors  being  Great  Britain, 
Russia,  and  Austria.  A  contemporary  print  entitled  "  Tom 
Thumb  at  Bay  "  commemorates  the  new  armament.  Napo- 
leon, dropping  crown  and  scepter  in  his  flight,  is  evading  the 
.Austrian  eagle,  the  Russian  bear,  and  the  Westphalian  pig, 
only  to  run  at  last  pell-mell  into  the  gaping  jaws  of  the  British 
lion.  It  is  somewhat  curious  that  the  momentous  events  of 
the  new  war — the  annihilation  of  the  French  fleet  at  Trafal- 
gar, the  equally  decisive  French  victory  at  Austerlitz — were 
scarcely  noticed  in  caricature,  and  a  few  exceptions  have 
little  merit.  But  in  the  following  January,  1806,  when 
Napoleon  had  entered  upon  an  epoch  of  king-making,  with 
his  kings  of  Wurtemburg  and  Bavaria,  Gillray  produced  one 
of  his  most  famous  prints.  It  was  published  the  23d  of 
January  (the  day  that  Pitt  breathed  his  last),  and  was  en- 
titled "  Tiddy-Doll,  the  Great  French  Gingerbread  Baker, 
Drawing  out  a  new  Batch  of  Kings,  His  Man,  '  Hopping 
Talley,'  Mixing  up  the  Dough."  The  great  gilt  ginger- 
bread baker  is  shown  at  work  at  his  new  French  oven  lor 
imperial  gingerbread.  I  \c  is  just  drawing  from  the  o\-cn's 
mouth  a  fresh  batch  of  kings.  Hie  fuel  is  shown  in  the  form 
of  cannon-balls.  Holland,  Switzerland,  Austria,  Italy, 
Venice  and  Spain  arc  following  the  fate  of  the  P>ench  Re- 
public. On  top  of  the  chest  of  drawers,  labeled  respectively 
"kings   and    queens,"    "crowns   and    scepters,"    "suns   and 


38 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


moons  "  is  arranged  a  gay  parcel  of  little  dough  viceroys 
intended  for  the  next  batch.  Among  them  are  the  figures  of 
Fox,  Sheridan,  Derby,  and  others  of  the  Whig  party  in 
England. 

In  the  comprehensive  and  ill-assorted  Coalition  ministry 
which  was  formed  soon  after  Pitt's  death,  the  caricaturists 
found  a  congenial  topic  for  their  pencils.     They  ridiculed  it 


TIDDi'-JJOLtLi  tAejreai'Fnnck  GuyerhraiABuJi/T.dmiwixy  out  a  ncmBaW^«/7fis«._f«^«»'''f(»^'*7.™^^tf«''>»^* 


unmercifully  under  the  title  "All  the  Talents,"  and  the 
"  Board  Bottomed  "  ministry.  A  composite  picture  by  Row- 
landson  shows  the  ministry  as  a  spectacled  ape  in  the  wig  of  a 
learned  justice,  with  episcopal  mitre  and  Catholic  crozier. 
He  wears  a  lawyer's  coat  and  ragged  breeches,  with  a  shoe  on 
one  foot  and  a  French  jack-boot  on  the  other.  He  is  dancing 
on  a  funeral  pyre  of  papers,  the  results  of  the  administration, 
its  endless  negotiations  with  France,  its  sinecures  and  patron- 
ages, which  are  blazing  away.  The  creature's  foot  is  dis- 
charging a  gun,  which  produces  signal  mischief  in  the  rear 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


39 


and  brings  down  two  heavy  folios,  the  Magna  Charta  and 
the  Coronation  Oath,  upon  its  head. 

This  ministry's  futile  negotiations  for  peace  with  France 
are  frequently  burlesqued.  Gillray  published  on  April  5 
"  Pacific  Overtures;  or,  a  Flight  from  St.  Cloud's  '  over  the 
water  to  Charley,'  "  in  which  the  negotiations  are  described 
as  "  a  new  dramatic  peace,  now  rehearsing."  In  this  cartoon 
King  George  has  left  the  state  box — where  the  play-book  of 
"  I  Know  You  All  "  still  remains  open — to  approach  nearer 


-'    i'i'MM  /rffcrTTVIiff*'  ~ 


"  THE    DEVIL    AND     NAPOLEON." 
From  an  aiwnymous  French  caricature. 

to  little  Boney,  who,  elevated  on  the  clouds,  is  directing  atten- 
tion to  his  proposed  treaty.  "Terms  of  Peace:  Acknowl- 
edge me  as  Emperor;  dismantle  your  fleet,  reduce  your 
armies;  abandon  Malta  and  (libraltar;  renounce  all  con- 
tinental connection;  your  colonies  I  will  take  at  a  \ahiatIon; 
engage  to  pay  to  the  Great  Nation  tor  seven  years  annually 
one  million  pounds;  and  place  in  my  hands  as  hostages  the 
Princess  Charlotte  of  Wales,  with  others  of  the  late  adminis- 


40  CENTURY  LN  CARICATURE 

tration  whom  I  shall  name."  King  George  replies:  "  Very 
amusing  terms,  indeed,  and  might  do  vastly  well  with  some 
of  the  new-made  little  gingerbread  kings;  but  we  are  not  in 
the  habit  of  giving  up  either  ships  or  commerce  or  colonies 
merely  because  little  Boney  is  in  a  pet  to  have  them."  This 
cartoon  introduces  among  others  Talleyrand,  O' Conor,  Fox, 
Lord  Ellcnborough,  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  Lord  Moira, 
Lord  Lauderdale,  Addington,  Lord  Henry  Petty,  Lord 
Derby,  and  Mrs.  Fitzherbert. 

Shortly  afterward,  on  July  21,  1806,  Rowlandson  voices 
the  current  feeling  of  distrust  of  Fox  in  "  Experiments  at 
Dover;  or.  Master  Charley's  Magic  Lantern."  Fox  is 
depicted  at  Dover,  training  the  rays  of  his  magic  lantern  on 
the  cliffs  of  Calais.  John  Bull,  watching  him,  is  not  satis- 
fied. "  Yes,  yes,  it  be  all  very  fine,  if  it  be  true;  but  I  can't 
forget  that  d — d  Omnium  last  week.  .  .  I  will  tell  thee  what, 
Charley,  since  thee  hast  become  a  great  man,  I  think  in  my 
heart  thee  beest  always  conjuring." 

The  cartoon  entitled  "  Westminster  Conscripts  under  the 
Training  Act"  appeared  September  i,  1806.  Napoleon, 
the  drill  sergeant,  is  elevated  on  a  pile  of  cannon-balls;  he  is 
giving  his  authoritative  order  to  "  Ground  arms."  The 
invalided  Fox  has  been  wheeled  to  the  ground  in  his  arm- 
chair; the  Prince  of  Wales'  plume  appears  on  the  back  of  his 
seat.  Other  figures  in  the  cartoon  are  Lord  Lauderdale, 
Lord  Grenville,  Lord  Howick,  Lord  Holland,  Lord  Robert 
Spencer,  Lord  Ellenborough,  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  Lord 
Moira,  Lord  Chancellor  Erskine,  Colonel  Hanger,  and 
Talleyrand. 

Gillray  has  left  a  cartoon  commemorating  the  arrival  of 
the  Danish  squadron,  under  the  title  of  "  British  Tars  Tow- 
ing   the    Danish    Fleet    into    Harbor;    the    Broad    Bottom 


(Le  Cardxaal  Fesdi 


7      » 


/J 


V 


^v/,v///'//^v/ 


Napoleon  :   "  Dear  cousfn,  liow  do  you  fiini  my  condition  ?  " 

Cardinal  Fescu  :  "  Sire,  it  cannot  last.     Your  Majesty  lias  too  bad  a  constitution," 

Frovi  the  collection  of  John  Leonard  DuJley,  Jr. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  43 

Leviathan  trying  to  swamp  Billy's  Old  Boat;  and  the  Little 
Corsican  Tottering  on  the  Clouds  of  Ambition."  This  car- 
toon was  issued  October  i,  1807.  Lords  Liverpool  and 
Castlereagh  are  lustily  rowing  the  Billy  Pitt;  Canning, 
seated  in  the  stern,  is  towing  the  captured  fleet  into  Sheerness, 
with  the  Union  Jack  flying  over  the  forts.  Copenhagen, 
smoking  from  the  recent  bombardment,  may  be  distinguished 
in  the  distance.  In  Sheerness  harbor  the  sign  of'"  Good  Old 
George"  is  hung  out  at  John  Bull's  Tavern;  John  Bull  is 
seated  at  the  door,  a  pot  of  porter  in  his  hand,  waving  his 
hat  and  shouting:  "Rule  Britannia!  Britannia  Rules  the 
Waves!"  That  the  expedition  did  not  escape  censure  is 
shown  by  the  figure  of  a  three-headed  porpoise  which  is 
savagely  assailing  the  successful  crew.  This  monster  bears 
the  heads  of  Lord  Howick,  shouting  "  Detraction!  "  Lord 
St.  Vincent  tilled  with  "  Envy,"  and  discharging  a  watery 
broadside;  and  Lord  Grenville,  who  is  raising  his  "  Opposi- 
tion Clamor  "  to  confuse  their  course. 


CHAPTER  \T 
napoleon's  waning  power 

No  period  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  gave  better  op- 
portunity for  satire  than  Napoleon's  disastrous 
occupation  of  Spain  and  his  invasion  of  Portugal. 
The  titles  alone  of  the  cartoons  would  fill  a  volume.  The 
sanguine  hopes  of  success  cherished  by  the  English  govern- 
ment are  expressed  by  Gillray  in  a  print  published  April  lo, 
1808.  "  Delicious  Dreams!  Castles  in  the  Air !  Glorious 
Prospects!"  It  depicts  the  ministers  sunken  in  a  drunken 
sleep  and  visited  by  glorious  visions  of  Britannia  and  her  lion 
occupying  a  triumphal  car  formed  from  the  hull  of  a  British 
ship,  drawn  by  an  Irish  bull  and  led  by  an  English  tar.  She 
is  dragging  captive  to  the  Tower  little  Boney  and  the  Russian 
Bear,  both  loaded  with  chains. 

The  dangers  which  threatened  Napoleon  at  this  period 
were  shown  byGillray  in  one  of  the  most  striking  of  all  hiscar- 
toons,  the  "  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,"  which  was  issued 
September  24,  1808.  The  valley  is  the  valley  of  Bunyan's 
allegory.  The  Emperor  is  proceeding  timorously  down  a 
treacherous  path,  bounded  on  either  side  by  the  waters  of 
Styx  and  hemmed  in  by  a  circle  of  flame.  From  every  side 
horrors  are  springing  up  to  assail  him.  The  British  lion, 
raging  and  furious,  is  springing  at  his  throat.  The  Portu- 
guese wolf  has  broken  his  chain.  King  Death,  mounted  on  a 
mule  of  "  True  Royal  Spanish  Breed,"  has  cleared  at  a  bound 
the  body  of  the  ex-King  Joseph,  which  has  been  thrown  into 
the  "  Ditch  of  Styx."     Death  is  poising  his  spear  with  fatal 

44 


—     ? 


46  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

aim,  warningly  holding  up  at  the  same  time  his  hour-glass 
with  the  sand  exhausted;  flames  follow  in  his  course.  From 
the  smoke  rise  the  figures  of  Junot  and  Dupont,  the  beaten 
generals.  The  papal  tiara  is  descending  as  a  "  Roman 
meteor,"  charged  with  lightnings  to  blast  the  Corsican.  The 
"  Turkish  New  Moon  "  is  seen  rising  in  blood.  The  "  Spirit 
of  Charles  XII."  rises  from  the  flames  to  avenge  the  wrongs 
of  Sweden.  The  "  Imperial  German  Eagle  "  is  emerging 
from  a  cloud;  the  Prussian  bird  appears  as  a  scarecrow,  mak- 
ing desperate  eftorts  to  fly  and  screaming  revenge.  From  the 
"  Lethean  Ditch  "  the  "  American  Rattlesnake  "  is  thrusting 
forth  a  poisoned  tongue.  The  "  Dutch  Frogs  "  are  spitting 
out  their  spite;  and  the  Rhenish  Confederation  is  personified 
as  a  herd  of  starved  "  Rats,"  ready  to  feast  on  the  Corsican. 
The  great  "  Russian  Bear,"  the  only  ally  Napoleon  has 
secured,  is  shaking  his  chain  and  growling — a  formidable 
enemy  in  the  rear. 

Gillray's  caricature  entitled  "  John  Bull  Taking  a 
Luncheon;  or,  British  Cooks  Cramming  Old  Grumble-Giz- 
zard with  Bonne  Chere,"  shows  the  strange-appearing  John 
of  the  caricature  of  that  day  sitting  at  a  table,  overwhelmed 
by  the  zealous  attentions  of  his  cooks,  foremost  among  whom 
is  the  hero  of  the  Nile,  who  is  oftering  him  a  "  Fricassee  a  la 
Nelson,"  a  large  dish  of  battered  French  ships  of  the  line. 
John  is  swallowing  a  frigate  at  a  mouthful.  Through  the 
window  we  see  Fox  and  Sheridan,  representative  of  the 
Broad  Bottom  administration,  running  away  in  dismay  at 
John  Bull's  voracity. 

As  Gillray  retires  from  the  field  several  other  clever  artists 
stand  ready  to  take  his  place,  and  chief  among  them  Rowland- 
son.  The  latter  had  a  distinct  advantage  over  Gillray  in  his 
superior  artistic  training.      He  was  educated  in  the  French 


o 

& 

o 

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2 
O 

O 

<; 
z 


48  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

schools,  where  he  gave  especial  attention  to  studies  from  the 
nude.  In  the  opinion  of  such  capable  judges  as  Reynolds, 
West,  and  Lawrence,  his  gifts  might  have  won  him  a  high 
place  among  English  artists,  if  he  had  not  turned,  through 
sheer  perversity,  to  satire  and  burlesque.  Rowlandson's 
Napoleonic  cartoons  began  in  July,  1808.  These  initial 
efforts    are    neither    especially    characteristic    nor    especially 


FROM   A    GERMAN    CARICATURE    COMMEMORATING 
GERMAN    SUCCESS    IN    1814. 

clever,  but  they  certainly  were  duly  appreciated  by  the  public. 
Joseph  Grego,  in  his  interesting  and  comprehensive  work 
upon  Rowlandson,  says  of  them  : 

"  It  is  certain  that  the  caricaturist's  travesties  of  the  little 
Emperor,  his  burlesques  of  his  great  actions  and  grandiose 
declarations,  his  figurative  displays  of  the  mean  origin  of  the 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


49 


imperial  family,  with  the  cowardice  and  depravity  of  its  mem- 
bers, won  popular  applause.  .  .  And  when  disasters  began 
to  clouci  the  career  of  Napoleon,  as  army  after  army  melted 
away,  .  .  .  the  artist  bent  his  skill  to  interpret  the  delight 
of  the  public.     The  City  competed  with  the  West  End  in 


^»jjr  JUw   Z   /'t.fi,^   '    .^ 'y  J /6iT.:rM^'^- .'t'tnymuim' S..ff*'Cr/'rr^nir^JanaMjvuinw  &J^(tligff^.Jf.Jiat»'*  tfjte^/^  A'XJm-r, 


j  ■  y-  ■ y-'-l-'-  ■  


"  TIIK    rAKlITION    OK    THK    .MAT." 

From  the  collection  of  John  Leonard  Dudley,  Jr. 

buying  everv  caricature,  in  loval  contest  to  prove  their 
national  enmity  for  Bonaparte.  In  too  many  cases,  the  incen- 
ti\c  was  to  gratify  the  hatiwl  of  the  Corsican  rather  tlian  any 
remarkable  merit  that  could  be  discovered  in  the  caricatures. 
Very  few  of  these  mock-heroic  sallies  imprint  themscK  es  upon 


so 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


the  recollection  by  sheer  force  of  their  own  brilliancy,  as  was 
the  case  with  Gillray,  and  frequently  with  John  Tenniel. 
Rowlandson  and  Cruikshank  are  risible,  but  not  inspired." 

On  July  8  Rowlandson  began  his  series  with  "  The 
Corsican  I  iger  at  Bay."  Napoleon  is  depicted  as  a  savage 
tiger,  rending  four  "  Royal  Greyhounds,"  quite  at  his  mercy. 
But  a  fresh  pack  appears  in  the  background  and  prepares  for 
a  fierce  charge.  The  Russian  bear  and  Austrian  eagle  are 
securely  bound  with  heavy  fetters,  but  the  eagle  is  asking: 
"  Now,  Brother  Bruin,  is  it  time  to  break  our  fetters?  " 

"  The  Beast  as  Described  in  the  Revelations  "  followed 


'  THE    CHIEF    OF    THE    GRAND     ARMY    IN    A    SAD 
FLIGHT." 

From  a  French  cartoon  of  f  lie  period. 

within  two  weeks.  The  beast,  of  Corsican  origin,  is  repre- 
sented with  seven  heads,  and  the  names  of  Austria,  Naples, 
Holland,  Denmark,  Prussia,  and  Russia  are  inscribed  on  their 
respective  crowns.  Napoleon's  head,  severed  from  the  trunk, 
vomits  forth  flames.  In  the  distance,  cities  are  blazing, 
showing  the  destruction  wrought  by  the  beast.  Spain  is 
represented  as  the  champion  who  alone  dares  to  stand  against 
the  monster. 

"The   Political   Butcher"   bears   date   September    12   of 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  51 

the  same  year.  In  this  print  the  Spanish  Don,  in  the  garb 
of  a  butcher,  is  cutting  up  Bonaparte  for  the  benefit  of  his 
neighbors.  The  body  of  the  late  Corsican  hes  before  him 
and  is  being  cut  up  with  professional  zeal.  The  Don  holds 
up  his  enemy's  heart  and  calls  upon  the  other  Powers  to  take 
their  share.  The  double-headed  eagle  of  Austria  is  swoop- 
ing upon  Napoleon's  head:  "  I  have  long  wished  to  strike  my 
talons  into  that  diabolical  head-piece  " ;  the  British  bulldog 
has  been  enjoying  portions  of  the  joints,  and  thinks  that  he 
would  "  like  to  have  the  picking  of  that  head."  The 
Russian  bear  is  luxuriously  licking  Napoleon's  boots,  and  re- 
marks, "  This  licking  is  giving  me  a  mortal  inclination  to 
pick  a  bone." 

The  final  failure  of  the  Spanish  campaign  is  signalized, 
September  20,  in  a  cartoon  labeled  "  Napoleon  the  Little 
in  a  Rage  with  his  Great  French  Eagle."  The  Emperor, 
with  drawn  sword  and  bristling  with  rage,  threatens  the 
French  imperial  eagle,  larger  than  himself.  The  bird's  head 
and  one  leg  are  tied  up — the  result  of  damage  inflicted  by  the 
Spaniards.  "  Confusion  and  destruction!  "  thunders  Napo- 
leon, "what  is  this  I  see?  Did  I  not  command  you  not  to 
return  until  you  had  spread  your  wing  of  victory  over  the 
whole  of  Spain?  "  "  Aye,  it's  fine  talking,"  rejoins  the  bird, 
"  but  if  you  had  been  there,  you  would  not  much  have  liked 
it.  The  Spanish  cormorants  pursued  me  in  such  a  manner 
that  they  set  me  molting  in  a  terrible  way.  I  wonder  that 
I  have  not  lost  my  feathers.  Besides,  it  got  so  hot  I  couKl 
not  bear  it  any  longer." 

In  August,  1809,  Rowlandson  published  "The  Rising 
Sun."  Bonaparte  is  surrounded  by  the  Continental  powers, 
and  is  busy  rocking  to  sleep  In  a  cradle  the  Russian  bear, 
securely  muzzled  with  French  promises.     But  the  dawn  of  a 


s 


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O 

to 

!< 

a 

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< 

^ 

fc. 

^ 

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k 

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■i 

^ 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  53 

new  era  is  breaking :  the  sun  of  Spain  and  Portugal  is  rising 
with  threatening  import.  The  Emperor  is  disturbed  by  the 
new  Hght:  "  This  rising  sun  has  set  me  upon  thorns."  The 
Prussian  eagle  is  trussed;  Denmark  is  snuffed  out.  But 
Austria  has  once  more  taken  heart :  "  Tyrant,  I  defy  thee  and 
thy  cursed  crew  !  " 

The  victories  of  the  Peninsular  war,  and  later  of  the 
disastrous  Russian  campaign,  called  forth  an  ever-increasing 
number  of  cartoons,  which  showed  little  mercy  or  considera- 
tion to  a  fallen  foe.  A  sample  of  the  titles  of  this  periodshow 
the  general  tendency;  he  is  the  "  Corsican  Bloodhound,"  the 
"Carcass-Butcher";  he  is  a  jail-bird  doing  the  "Rogues' 
March  to  the  Island  of  Elba."  An  analysis  of  a  few  of  the 
more  striking  cartoons  will  serve  to  close  the  survey  of  the 
Napoleonic  period.  "  Death  and  Bonaparte  "  is  a  grew- 
some  cartoon  by  Rowlandson,  dated  January  i,  1814.  Na- 
poleon is  seated  on  a  drum  with  his  head  clasped  between  his 
hands,  staring  into  the  face  of  a  skeleton  Death,  who  is  watch- 
ing the  baffled  general,  face  to  face.  Death  mockingly 
parodies  Napoleon's  attitude.  A  broken  eagle,  the  imperial 
standard,  lies  at  his  bony  feet.  In  the  background  the  Rus- 
sian, Prussian,  Austrian,  and  other  allied  armies  are  stream- 
ing past  in  unbroken  ranks,  routing  the  dismayed  legions  of 
France. 

"  Bloody  Boney,  the  Corsican  Butcher,  Eeft  off  Trade 
and  Retiring  to  Scarecrow  Island  "  is  the  title  of  still  another 
ot  Rowlandson's  characteristic  cartoons.  In  it  Napoleon  is 
represented  as  riding  on  a  rough-coated  donkey  and  wearing 
a  fool's  cap  in  ]")lacc  of  a  crown.  His  only  j">ro\ision  is  a 
bag  of  brown  bread.  I  lis  consort  is  ritllng  on  the  same 
beast,  which  is  bein<j;  unincrcitully  Hogged  witli  a  stick  labeled 
"Baton  Marcchal." 


o    5 


<i 


i 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


55 


Napoleon's  escape  from  Elba  was  commemorated  by 
Rowlandson  in  "  The  Flight  of  Bonaparte  from  Hell  Bay." 
In  it  the  foul  fiend  is  amusing  himself  by  letting  his  captive 
loose,  to  work  fresh  mischief  in  the  world  above.  He  has 
mounted  the  Corsican  upon  a  bubble  and  sends  him  careering 
upward  back  to  earth,  while  hissing  dragons  pour  forth 
furious  blasts  to  waft  the  bubble  onward. 

"  Hell  Hounds  Rallying  around  the  Idol  of  France  "  is  the 


"  THE    NEW     KOIUNSON    CRISOE. 

From  a  German  caricature. 


title  of  still  another  of  Rowlandson's  designs,  which  appeared 
in  April,  1815.  The  head  and  bust  of  the  h'mperor  drawn 
on  a  colossal  scale,  a  hangman's  noose  around  his  throat,  is 
mounted  on  a  \'ast  pyramid  ol  human  heads,  his  decapitated 
victims.  Demons  are  tlymg  through  the  air  to  place  upon  his 
brow  a  crown  of  blazing  pitch,  while  a  ring  of  other  excited 
liends,  whose  leaturcs  rc})rcsciU  Mai"cchal  \ey,  Lelcbre,  Da- 


56 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


voust  and  others,  with  horns,  hoofs,  and  tails,  are  dancing  in 
triumph  around  the  idol  they  have  replaced.  Closely  re- 
sembling this  cartoon  of  Rowlandson  is  the  German  cartoon, 
which  is  reproduced  In  these  pages,  showing  a  double-faced 


"  NAPOLEON    CAGED    BY    THE    ALLIES. 
From  a  French  cartoon  of  t lie  period. 

Napoleon  topping  a  monument  built  of  skulls.  Rowland- 
son's  "  Hell  Hounds  Rallying  around  the  Idol  of  France  " 
was  the  last  English  cartoon  directed  against  Napoleon 
when  he  was  at  the  head  of  France.  Two  months  later  the 
Emperor's  power  was  finally  broken  at  Waterloo. 


PART  II 

FROM  WATERLOO   THROUGH   THE  CRIMEAN 

WAR 

CHAPTER  VII 

AFTER    THE    DOWNFALL 

WITH  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  the  Gillray 
school  of  caricature  came  to  an  abrupt  and  very 
natural  close.  It  was  a  school  born  of  fear  and 
nurtured  upon  rancor — a  school  that  indulged  freely  in 
obscenity  and  sacrilege,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  stoop  to  kick 
the  fallen  hero,  to  heap  insult  and  ignominy  upon  Napoleon 
in  his  exile.  Only  during  a  great  world  crisis,  a  death  strug- 
gle of  nations,  could  popular  opinion  have  tolerated  such 
wanton  disregard  for  decency.  And  when  the  crisis  was 
passed  it  came  to  an  end  like  some  malignant  growth, 
strangled  by  its  own  virulence.  The  truth  is  that  Gillray 
and  Rowlandson  led  caricature  into  an  impasse;  they  de- 
liberately perverted  its  true  function,  which  is,  to  advance  an 
argument  with  the  cogent  force  of  a  cle\'cr  orator,  to  sum 
up  a  political  issue  in  terms  so  simple  that  a  child  may  read, 
and  not  merely  to  echo  back  the  blatant  rancor  of  the  mob. 
In  the  hands  of  a  master  of  the  art  It  becomes  an  incisiv^e 
weapon,  like  the  blade  with  which  the  matador  gives  his 
coiip-dc-'^racc.  Gillray's  conception  of  its  office  seems  to 
ha\'e  been  that  ol  the  red  rag  to  be  llap[)etl  tauntingK'  in  the 
face  of  John    Ikill;   and   John    Bull   obedientl\'  bellowed   in 

57 


■J-.    ? 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  59 

response.  It  would  be  idle  to  deny  that  for  the  purpose  of 
spurring  on  public  opinion,  the  Napoleonic  cartoons  exercised 
a  potent  influence.  They  kept  popular  excitement  at  fever 
heat;  they  added  fuel  to  the  general  hatred.  But  when  the 
crisis  was  passed,  when  the  public  pulse  was  beating  normally 
once  more,  when  virulent  attacks  upon  a  helpless  exile  had 
ceased  to  seem  amusing,  there  really  remained  no  material 
upon  which  caricature  of  the  Gillray  type  could  exercise  its' 
offensive  ingenuity.  What  seemed  justifiable  license  when 
directed  against  the  arch-enemy  of  European  peacewould  have 
been  insufferable  when  applied  to  British  statesmen  and  to  the 
milder  problems  of  local  political  issues.  Another  and  quite 
practical  reason  helps  to  explain  the  dearth  of  political 
caricature  in  England  for  a  full  generation  after  the  battle  of 
Waterloo,  and  that  is  the  question  of  expense.  A  public 
which  freely  gave  shillings  and  even  pounds  to  see  its  hatred 
of  "  Little  Boney "  interpreted  with  Gillray's  vindictive 
malice  hesitated  to  expend  even  pennies  for  a  cartoon  on  the 
corn  laws  or  the  latest  ministerial  changes.  In  England,  as 
well  as  on  the  Continent,  caricature  as  an  effective  factor  in 
politics  remained  in  abeyance  until  the  advent  of  an  essentially 
modern  type  of  periodical,  the  comic  weekly,  of  which  La 
Carkatiin',  the  London  launch,  the  Flicji^ciidc  Blcittcr,  and  in 
this  countrv  Puck  and  J ttd\rc,  are  the  most  famous  examples. 
The  progress  of  lithography  niatle  such  a  periodical  possible 
in  France  as  early  as  i83(j,  when  La  Carualurc  was  founded 
by  the  famous  Philipon;  but  the  oppressive  laws  of  censor- 
ship throughout  Europe  prevented  any  \\idc  development  of 
this  class  of  journalism  until  after  the  general  political  up- 
hcaxal  of  i  S48. 

It  would  he   idle,  howc\-cr,  to  deny  that  Cullrav  exertctl  a 


o 
w 

O 
< 


;:4 


W 

z 
< 

< 


z 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  6i 

lasting  influence  upon  all  future  caricature.  His  license,  his 
vulgarity,  his  repulsive  perversion  of  the  human  face  and 
form,  have  found  no  disciples  in  later  generations;  but  his 
effective  assemblage  of  many  figures,  the  crowded  significance 
of  minor  details,  the  dramatic  unity  of  the  whole  conception 
which  he  inherited  from  Hogarth,  have  been  passed  on  down 
the  line  and  still  continue  to  influence  the  leading  cartoonists 
of  to-day  in  England,  Germany,  and  the  United  States, 
although  to  a  much  less  degree  in  France.  Even  at  the  time 
of  Napoleon's  downfall  the  few  cartoons  which  appeared  in 
Paris  were  far  less  extreme  than  their  English  models,  while 
the  German  caricaturists,  on  the  contrary,  were  extremely 
virulent,  notably  the  Berliner,  Schadow,  who  openly  acknowl- 
edged his  indebtedness  to  the  Englishman  by  signing  himself 
the  Parisian  Gillray;  and  \'olz,  author  of  the  famous  "  true 
portrait  of  Napoleon  " — a  portrait  in  which  Napoleon's  face, 
upon  closer  inspection,  is  seen  made  up  of  a  head  of  inextrica- 
bly tangled  dead  bodies,  his  head  surmounted  by  a  bird  of 
prey,  his  breast  a  map  of  Europe  overspread  by  a  vast  spider 
web,  in  which  the  different  national  capitals  are  entangled  like 
so  many  luckless  flies.  Had  there  been  more  liberty  of  the 
press,  an  interesting  school  of  political  cartoonists  might  have 
arisen  at  this  time  in  Germany.  But  they  met  with  such  scanty 
encouragement  that  little  of  real  interest  is  to  be  gleaned  from 
this  source  until  after  the  advent  of  the  Berlin  Kladdcradalsch 
in  1.S4S.  and  the  Ilicgendc  BUilliv,  but  a  short  time  earlier. 


Acr/or/r///ri//  i:o, 


RUSSIA    AS  MEDIATOR    IJKTWEEN    THE    UNITED    STATES    AND    GREAT    1 
Fro?n  the  coll,-c/io)i  of  the  Aeiv  York  Public  Librarv. 


RITA IN. 


AN    A.MI.KKA.N      lAKluuN     til-      llll,    WAR    <)!■     lSl2. 


«nJ       St>V    Vfltol,  y.,h     t.,    ■//■"! /k../. 


J0/7i/NNY  in  V if  J.  and  a.c  A  IUi:KANii)//iI^^NS- 


Comt  aJono  you,  o(d  niucal 
you.  did  not  kncjj  ttu  timve 

dnuneans  and  their  o!/t 

diickoTV 


I  OA  'curj-e  IkU  xfwamn^  ^9t/  rwt ' 
Wie  the  mad  from  JilacUrultir^  lo 

Wajtunijlerv—  T'Ui/  fm  me  ^enUemen. 
1  dc  net  tuid  JO  hard,  ^  am  III  the 

\mud  up,  to  mt/  Bar 


(fHa.M!  Aloanietr  QuU  UOU  haVt 
Oiri  (hit  lime  n.ufjia.,i4utlria-, 
J^ru/tia.Jweckn,  Jfiain  ,Jirbigal, 
and  all  ^ermttjm  wUh  yew ) 


A    CARICATURE     OF   T?rE    WAR   OF    l8l2 
Front  the  collectio7i  of  the  New  York  Public  Library. 


CHAPTER  VUl 


THE    "  POIRE  " 


THROUGHOUT  the  Napoleonic  period  England 
practically  had  a  monopoly  in  caricature.  During 
the  second  period,  down  to  the  year  1848,  France 
is  the  center  of  interest.  Prior  to  1830,  French  political  car- 
toons were  neither  numerous  nor  especially  significant.  In- 
deed they  present  a  simplicity  of  imagination  rather  amusing 
as  compared  with  the  complicated  English  caricatures.  A 
hate  of  the  Jesuits,  a  mingling  of  liberalism,  touched  with 
Bonapartism,  and  the  war  of  newspapers  furnished  the  theme. 
The  two  symbols  constantly  recurring  are  the  girouette,  or 
weather-cock,  and  the  t'tcigiioir,  or  extinguisher.  Many  of 
the  French  statesmen  who  played  a  prominent  part  during  the 
French  Empire  and  after  the  Restoration  changed  their  politi- 
cal creed  with  such  surprising  rapidity  that  it  was  difficult  to 
keep  track  of  their  changes.  They  were  accordingly  symbo- 
lized by  a  number  of  weathercocks  proportioned  to  the  num- 
ber of  their  political  conversions,  Talleyrand  leading  the  pro- 
cession, with  not  less  than  se\en  to  his  credit.  The  ctcig^noir 
was  constantly  used  in  satire  directed  against  the  priesthood, 
the  most  famous  instance  appearing  in  the  Miiurvn  in  1819. 
It  took  tor  the  text  a  retrain  from  a  song  of  iieranger.  In 
this  cartoon  the  Church  is  personified  by  the  figure  of  the  Pope 
holding  in  one  hand  a  sabre,  and,  in  the  other,  a  paper  with 
the  words  Bulls,  crusades,  Sicilian  \cspcrs,  St.  Bartholomew. 
Beside  the  figure  of  the  Church,  torch  in  hand,  is  the  demon 

65 


66  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

of  discord.  From  the  smoke  of  the  torch  of  the  demon 
various  horrors  are  escaping.  We  read  "  the  restoration  of 
feudal  rights,"  "  feudal  privileges,"  "  division  of  families." 
Monks  are  trying  to  snuff  out  the  memory  of  Fenelon,  Buffon, 
\  oltaire,  Rousseau,  Montaigne,  and  other  philosophers  and 
thinkers.  For  ten  years  the  caricaturists  played  with  this 
theme.  A  feeble  forerunner  of  La  Caricature,  entitled  Le 
Nciiii  JaiDic,  depended  largely  for  its  wit  upon  the  varia- 
tions it  could  improvise  upon  the  g'lroiiette  and  upon  the 
eteigiio'ir. 

Yet  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  French  art  was 
quite  destitute  of  humorists  at  the  beginning  of  the  century. 
M.  Armand  Dayot,  in  a  monograph  upon  French  cari- 
cature, mentions  among  others  the  names  of  Isabey,  Boilly, 
and  Carle  Vernet  as  rivaling  the  English  cartoonists  in  the 
ingenuity  of  their  designs,  and  surpassing  them  in  artistic 
finish  and  harmony  of  color.  "  But,"  he  adds,  "  they  were 
never  able  to  go  below  the  surface  in  their  satire.  It  would  be 
a  mistake  to  enroll  in  the  hirsute  cohort  of  caricaturists  these 
witty  and  charming  artists,  who  were  more  concerned  in  de- 
picting the  pleasures  of  mundane  life  than  in  castigating  its 
vices  and  irregularities."  The  4th  of  November,  1830,  is  a 
momentous  date  in  the  history  of  French  caricature.  Prior  to 
that  time,  French  cartoons,  such  as  there  were,  were  studi- 
ously, even  painfully,  impersonal.  Thackeray,  in  his  delight- 
ful essay  upon  "  Caricatures  and  Lithography,"  in  the  "  Paris 
Sketch  Book,"  describes  the  conditions  of  this  period  with  the 
following  whimsical  allegory: 

"  As  for  poor  caricature  and  freedom  of  the  press,  they, 
like  the  rightful  princess  in  a  fairy  tale,  with  the  merry  fan- 
tastic dwarf,  her  attendant,  were  entirely  in  the  power  of  the 
giant  who  rules  the  land.      The  Princess,  the  press,  was  so 


■r.      ~ 


:-      ■Si 


■^       V 
'3 


—      <N» 


■-C      <, 


68 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


closely  watched  and  guarded  (with  some  little  show,  neverthe- 
less, of  respect  for  her  rank)  that  she  dared  not  utter  a  word 
of  her  own  thoughts;  and,  as  for  poor  Caricature,  he  was 
gagged  and  put  out  of  the  way  altogether." 

On  this  famous  4th    of    November,  however,  there    ap- 
peared the  initial  number  of  Philipon's  La  Caricature,  which 


PROUDHON. 


was  destined  to  usher  in  a  new  era  of  comic  art,  and  which 
proved  the  most  efficacious  weapon  which  the  Republicans 
found  to  use  against  Louis  Philippe — a  weapon  as  redoubt- 
able as  La  Lanterne  of  Henri  Rochefort  became  under  the 
Second  Empire.  Like  several  of  his  most  famous  collabora- 
tors, Charles  Philipon  was  a  Meridional.     He  was  born  in 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  69 

Lyons  at  the  opening  of  the  century.  He  studied  art  in  the 
ateher  of  Gros.  He  married  into  the  family  of  an  eminent 
pubhsher  of  prints,  iM.  Aubert,  and  was  himself  suc- 
cessiv^ely  the  editor  of  the  three  most  famous  comic  papers 
that  France  has  had,  La  Caricature,  Charivari^  and  the  Jour- 


DIGGINC     THE    GRA\E. 


)ial  pour  Rire.  The  first  of  these  was  a  weekly  paper.  The 
Charhari  appeared  daily,  and  at  first  its  cartoons  were  almost 
exclusively  political.  Philipon  had  gathered  around  him  a 
group  of  artists,  men  like  Daumier,  Gavarni,  Henry  Mon- 
nier,  and  Travies,  whose  names  afterward  became  famous, 
and  they  united  in  a  veritable  crusade  of  merciless  ridicule 
against  the  king,  his  family,  and  his  supporters.  Their  satire 
took  the  form  of  bitter  personal  attacks,  and  a  verv  curious 
contest  ensued  between  the  government  and  the  editorial  staff 
of  the  C/iar'nari.  As  Thackeray  sums  it  up,  it  was  a  struggle 
between  "  half  a  dozen  poor  artists  on  the  one  side  and  His 
iMajesty  Louis  Philippe,  his  august  family,  and  the  number- 
less placemen  and  supporters  of  the  monarchy  on  the  other;  it 
was  something  like  i'hersites  girding  at  Ajax."  Time  after 
time  were  Phihpon  and  his  dauntless  aids  arrested.  More 
than  a  do/cn  times  they  lost  their  cause  before  a  jury,  yet  each 
defeat  was  e(]ui\alcnt  to  a  \'ictorv,  bringing  them  new  svm- 
pathy,  and  each  time  thev  returned  to  the  attack  with  cartoons 


;«-^v^     <C«^    ■y>itm^\^tii^A^.^^J.ju,<^  HAtjLL.       C'CL'i^x^a.'^iui.e^        ^ffix<^ 


u-cTZi- 


1;yi.€^     A.CC^-  \jtyUA. 


^o—^  QmZf a.t^t' <''■"/  'irx-^ 


e^  Ob6it4  &■ 


c^^ 


'^>>A^<^ 


7 


-i^^,/^^ 


h\)\a<^  «^~-*>*^"'"'  »*  Co/WuiitVU^j        ^^    yX- 


..D  HY  PHILIPON  WHEN    ON  TRIM,  FOR   l.IKEI.INd    THE    KING 


FACSIMILE   OF    THE  I  AMOIS    DEKKNSK  PRESENTKl  ,        ,       ,i  o,- ?  " 

"  Is  it  my  fault,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  if  his  Majesty's  face  lo.,ks  like  a  pear  ? 


1- 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  71 

which,  if  more  covert  in  their  meaning,  were  even  more  offen- 
sive. Perhaps  the  most  famous  of  all  the  cartoons  which 
originated  in  Philipon's  fertile  brain  is  that  of  the  "  Pear," 
which  did  so  much  to  turn  the  countenance  of  Louis  Philippe 
to  ridicule — a  ridicule  which  did  more  than  anything  else  to 
cause  him  to  be  driven  from  the  French  throne.  The  "  Pear  " 
was  reproduced  in  various  forms  in  La  Caricature,  and  after- 
ward in  Le  Charivari.  By  inferior  artists  the  "  Pear  "  was 
chalked  up  on  walls  all  over  Paris.  The  most  politically  im- 
portant of  the  "  Poire  "  series  was  produced  when  Philipon 
was  obliged  to  appear  before  a  jury  to  answer  for  the  crime 
of  provoking  contempt  against  the  King's  person  by  giving 
such  a  ludicrous  version  of  his  face.  In  his  own  defense 
Philipon  took  up  a  sheet  of  paper  and  drew  a  large  Burgundy 
pear,  in  the  lower  parts  round  and  capacious,  narrower  near 
the  stalk,  and  crowned  with  two  or  three  careless  leaves.  "  Is 
there  any  treason  in  that?  "  he  asked  the  jury.  Then  he  drew 
a  second  pear  like  the  lirst,  except  that  one  or  two  lines  were 
scrawled  in  the  midst  of  it,  which  bore  somehow  an  odd  re- 
semblance to  the  features  of  a  celebrated  personage;  and, 
lastly,  he  produced  the  exact  portrait  of  Louis  Philippe;  the 
well-known  toiipcl ,  the  ample  whiskers — nothing  was  extenu- 
ated or  set  down  maliciously.  "  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,"  said 
Philipon,  "  can  I  help  it  if  His  Majesty's  face  is  like  a  pear?  " 
Thackeray,  in  gi\i)ig  an  account  of  this  amusing  trial,  makes 
the  curious  error  of  supjiosing  that  Philipon's  naive  defense 
carried  conviction  with  the  jury.  On  the  contrarv,  Philipon 
was  condemned  and  liiicil,  anil  imniciiiatcK-  took  \-engeance 
upon  the  judge  and  iur\-  h\'  arranging  their  poi-traits  upon 
the  front  page  of  (J/iariiari  in  the  form  of  a  "  Pear."  in  a 
hundred  different  ways  his  artists  rang  the  changes  upon  the 
"  pear,"  and  each  new  attack  was  the  lorerunner  ol  a  new 


72  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

arrest  and  trial.  One  day  La  Caricature  published  a  design 
representing  a  gigantic  pear  surmounting  the  pedestal  in  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde,  and  bearing  the  legend,  "  Le  monii- 
vient  expia-poire."  This  regicidal  pleasantry  brought  Phili- 
pon  once  more  into  court.  "  The  prosecution  sees  in  this  a 
provocation  to  murder!  "  cried  the  accused.  "  It  would  be  at 
most  a  provocation  to  make  marmalade."  Finally,  after  a 
picture  of  a  monkey  stealing  a  pear  proved  to  be  an  indictable 
offense,  the  subject  was  abandoned  as  being  altogether  too 
expensive  a  luxury. 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE    BAITING    OF    LOUIS    PHILIPPE 

BUT  although  the  "  Pear  "  was  forced  to  disappear, 
Phihpon  continued  to  harass  the  government,  until 
'  L>ouis  Philippe,  who  had  gained  his  crown  largely  by 
his  championship  of  the  freedom  of  the  press,  was  driven  in 
desperation  to  sanction  the  famous  September  laws,  which  vir- 
tually strangled  its  liberty.  Yet,  in  spite  of  the  obstacles  thrown 
in  their  way,  the  work  of  Philipon  and  of  the  remarkable  corps 
of  satirical  geniuses  which  he  gathered  round  him,  forms  a 
pictorial  record  in  which  the  intimate  history  of  France,  from 
Charles  X.'s  famous  coup  d'etat  down  to  the  revolution  of 
1848,  may  be  read  like  an  open  book.  The  adversaries  of 
the  government  of  1830  were  of  two  kinds.  One  kind,  of 
which  Admiral  Carrel  was  a  type,  resorted  to  passionate  argu- 
ment, to  indignant  eloquence.  The  other  kind  resorted  to  the 
methods  of  the  Fronde;  they  made  war  by  pin-pricks,  by 
bursts  of  laughter,  with  all  the  resources  of  French  gayety 
and  wit.  In  this  method  the  leading  spirit  was  l^hilipon,  who 
understood  clearly  the  power  that  wouKl  result  from  the 
closest  alliance  between  In  prcssc  et  I'image.  F\cn  hctore 
La  Caricatiirr  was  fountled  the  features  of  the  last  ot  the 
Bourbons  became  a  familiar  subject  in  cartoons,  hnariably 
the  same  features  are  emphasized;  a  tall,  lank  figure,  fre- 
quently contorted  like  the  "  india-rubber  man  "  ot  the  dime 
museums;  a  narrow,  \acuous  countenance,  a  high,  receding 
forehead,  over  which  sparse  locks  of  hair  arc  straggling;  a 
salient  jaw,  the  lips  draw  n  back  in  a  mirthless  grin,  revcaliiig 

73 


THE    I'lUUS    MONARCH.       CARICATURE    UE   CHARLES    X. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


75 


huge,  ungainly  teeth,  projecting  like  the  incisors  of  a  horse. 
In  one  memorable  cartoon  he  is  expending  the  full  crushing 
power  of  these  teeth  upon  the  famous  "  charter"  of  1830, 
but  is  finding  it  a  nut  quite  too  hard  to  crack. 

From  the  very  beginning  La  Caricature  assumed  an  atti- 


I  IIARLES   X.    IN  THE    ROLE  OF  THE    "  GREAT 
NUTCRACKER." 

Ill  tliis  caricature  Charles  X.  is  attempting 
to  break  with  liis  teeth  a  billiard  ball  on  which 
is  written  the  word  "  Charter."  The  cartoon 
is  entitled  "  Tlie  Great  Nutcracker  of  July 
25th,  f)r  tlie  Impotent  Horse-jaw  "  (ganache) — 
a  play  upon  words. 

tutic  of  hostile  suspicion  toward  i-ouis  Philippe,  the  pretended 
charnpio!!  of  the  honriicoisic,  whose  \eneer  ot  expedient  re- 
puhlicanisni  nexcr  went  deeper  than  to  send  his  chilthx'n  to  the 


76  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

public  schools,  and  to  exhibit  himself  parading  the  streets  of 
Paris,  umbrella  in  hand.  Two  cartoons  which  appeared  in 
the  early  days  of  his  reign,  and  are  labeled  respectively  "  Ne 
z-oiis  y  frottez  pas  "  and  "  //  x'ci  bon  train,  le  Minis teref  " 
admirably  illustrate  the  public  lack  of  confidence.  The  first 
of  these,  an  eloquent  lithograph  by  Daumier,  represents  a 
powerfully  built  and  resolute  young  journeyman  printer  stand- 
ing with  hands  clinched,  ready  to  defend  the  liberty  of  the 
press.  In  the  background  are  twO'  groups.  In  the  one 
Charles  X.,  already  worsted  in  an  encounter,  lies  prone  upon 
the  earth;  in  the  other  Louis  Philippe,  waving  his  ubiquitous 
umbrella,  is  with  difficulty  restrained  from  assuming  the  ag- 
gressive. 1  he  second  of  these  cartoons  is  more  sweeping  in 
its  indictment.  It  represents  the  sovereign  and  his  ministers 
in  their  "  chariot  of  state,"  one  and  all  lashing  the  horses  into 
a  mad  gallop  toward  a  bottomless  abyss.  General  Soult,  the 
Minister  of  War,  is  fiourishing  and  snapping  a  military  flag, 
in  place  of  a  whip.  At  the  back  of  the  chariot  a  Jesuit  has 
succeeded  in  securing  foothold  upon  the  baggage,  and  is 
adding  his  voice  to  hasten  the  forward  march,  all  symbolic  of 
the  violent  momentum  of  the  reactionary  movement. 

It  was  not  likely  that  the  part  which  Louis  Philippe  played 
in  the  revolution  of  1789,  his  share  in  the  republican  victories 
of  Jemappes  and  of  Valmy,  would  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
saw  in  him  only  a  pseudo-republican,  a  "citizen  king"  in 
name  only,  and  who  seized  eagerly  upon  the  opportunity  of 
mocking  at  his  youthful  espousal  of  republicanism.  The 
names  of  these  battles  recur  again  and  again  in  the  caricature 
of  the  period,  in  the  legends,  in  maps  conspicuously  hung  upon 
the  walls  of  the  background.  An  anonymous  cut  represents 
the  public  gazing  eagerly  into  a  magic  lantern,  the  old 
"  Poire  "  ofl'iciating  as  showman:      "  You  have  before  you 


y  H 

>  ? 

<  ■:i 

-1  ;^ 


H 

•^ 

^) 

•^ 

"^ 

i_ 

■^ 

J 

XJ 

'  ' 

^ 

U^ 

o 

•* 

hJ 

78  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

the  conqueror  of  Jemappes  and  of  Valmy.  You  see  him  sur- 
rounded by  his  nobles,  his  generals,  and  his  family,  all  ready 
to  die  in  his  defense.  See  how  the  jolly  rascals  fight.  They 
are  not  the  ones  to  be  driven  in  disgrace  from  their  kingdom. 
Oh,  no  !  "  Of  all  the  cartoons  touching  upon  Louis  Philippe's 
insincerity,  probably  the  most  famous  is  that  of  Daumier  com- 
memorating the  death  of  Lafayette.  The  persistent  popu- 
larity of  this  veteran  statesman  had  steadily  become  more 
and  more  embarrassing  to  a  government  whose  reactionary 
doctrines  he  repudiated,  and  whose  political  corruption  he 
despised.  "  Enfonce  Lafayette!  .  .  .  Attrape,  mon 
z'ieHx!  "  is  the  legend  inscribed  beneath  what  is  unquestion- 
ably one  of  the  most  extraordinary  of  all  the  caricatures  of 
Honore  Daumier.  It  represents  Louis  Philippe  watching  the 
funeral  cortege  of  Lafayette,  his  hands  raised  to  his  face  in 
the  pretense  of  grief,  but  the  face  behind  distorted  into  a  hide- 
ous leer  of  gratification.  M.  Arsene  Alexandre,  in  his  re- 
markable work  on  Daumier,  describes  this  splendid  drawing 
in  the  following  terms:  "Under  a  grey  sky,  against  the 
somber  and  broken  background  of  a  cemetery,  rises  on  a  little 
hillock  the  fat  and  black  figure  of  an  undertaker's  man.  Be- 
low him  on  a  winding  road  is  proceeding  a  long  funeral  pro- 
cession. It  is  the  crowd  that  has  thronged  to  the  obsequies  of 
the  illustrious  patriot.  Through  the  leafage  of  the  weeping 
willows  may  be  seen  the  white  tombstones.  The  whole  scene 
bears  the  mark  of  a  profound  sadness,  in  which  the  principal 
figure  seems  to  join,  if  one  is  to  judge  by  his  sorrowful  atti- 
tude and  his  clasped  hands.  But  look  closer.  If  this  under- 
taker's man,  with  the  features  of  Louis  Philippe,  is  clasping 
his  hands,  it  is  simply  to  rub  them  together  with  joy;  and 
through  his  fingers,  half  hiding  his  countenance,  one  may 
detect  a  sly  grin."      The  obsequious  attitude  of  the  members 


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80  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

of  Parliament  came  in  for  its  share  of  satirical  abuse.  "  This 
is  not  a  Chamber,  it  is  a  Kennel,"  is  the  title  of  a  spirited 
lithograph  by  Grandville,  representing  the  French  statesmen 
as  a  pack  of  hounds  fawning  beneath  the  lash  of  their  im- 
perious keeper,  Casimir-Perier.  Another  characteristic  car- 
toon of  Grandville's  represents  the  legislature  as  an  "  Infernal 
laboratory  for  extracting  the  quintessence  of  politics  " — a 
composition  which,  in  its  crowded  detail,  its  grim  and  uncanny 
suggesti\'eness,  and  above  all  its  bizarre  distortions  of  the 
human  face  and  form,  shows  more  plainly  than  the  work  of 
any  other  French  caricaturist  the  influence  of  Gillray.  A 
collection  of  grinning  skulls  are  labeled  "  Analysis  of  Human 
Thought  ";  state  documents  of  Louis  Philippe  are  being  cut 
and  weighed  and  triturated,  while  in  the  foreground  a  legis- 
lator with  distended  cheeks  is  wasting  an  infinite  lot  of  breath 
upon  a  blowpipe  in  his  effort  to  distill  the  much-sought-for 
quintessence  from  a  retort  filled  with  fragments  of  the  words 
"  Bonapartism,"  "  anarchy,"  ''  equality,"  "  republic,"  etc. 
One  of  the  palpable  results  of  the  "  political  quintessence  " 
of  Louis  Philippe's  government  took  the  form  of  heavy  im- 
posts, and  these  also  afforded  a  subject  for  Grand^-ille's 
graphic  pencil.  "  The  Public  Thrown  to  the  Imposts  in  the 
Great  Pit  of  the  Budget  "  first  appeared  in  La  Caricature.  It 
represented  the  various  taxes  under  which  France  was  suffer- 
ing in  the  guise  of  strange  and  unearthly  animals  congregated 
in  a  sort  of  bear  pit,  somewhat  similar  to  the  one  which  at- 
tracts the  attention  of  all  visitors  to  the  city  of  Berne.  The 
spectacle  is  one  given  bv  the  government  in  power  for  the 
amusement  of  all  those  connected  in  any  way  with  public 
office;  in  other  words,  the  salaried  officials  who  draw  their 
livelihood  from  the  taxes  im.posed  upon  the  people.  It  is  for 
their  entertainment  that  the  tax-paying  public  is  being  hurled 


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82  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

to  the  monsters  below — monsters  more  uncouth  and  fantastic 
than  even  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells's  fertile  brain  conceived  in  his 
"  War  of  the  Worlds,"  or  "  First  Men  in  the  Moon."  Dau- 
mier  in  his  turn  had  to  have  his  fling  at  the  ministerial  benches 
of  the  government  of  July — the  ''  prostituted  Chamber  of 
1834."  At  the  present  dav,  when  the  very  names  of  the 
men  whom  he  attacked  are  half  forgotten,  his  famous  car- 
toon, "  Le  Ventre  Legislatif,"  is  still  interesting;  yet  it  is 
impossible  to  realize  the  impression  it  must  have  made  in  the 
days  when  every  one  of  those  "  ventrigoulus,"  those  rotund, 
somnolent,  inanely  smiling  old  men,  with  the  word  "  bour- 
geoisie" plainly  written  all  over  them,  were  familiar  figures 
in  the  political  world,  and  Daumier's  presentment  of  them, 
one  and  all,  a  masterly  indictment  of  complacent  incapacity. 
As  between  Daumier  and  Grandville,  the  two  leading  lights 
of  La  Caricature,  there  is  little  question  that  the  former  was 
the  greater.  Balzac,  who  was  at  one  time  one  of  the  editors 
of  La  Caricature,  writing  under  pseudonym  of  "  Comte 
Alexandre  de  B.,"  and  was  the  source  of  inspiration  of  one  of 
its  leading  features,  the  curious  Etudes  de  Genre,  once  said  of 
Daumier:  "  Cf  gaillard-la,  mes  enfauts,  a  du  Michel-Ange 
sous  la  peau."  Balzac  took  Daumier  under  his  protection 
from  the  beginning.  His  first  counsel  to  him  was:  "  If  you 
wish  to  become  a  great  artist,  faites  des  dettes!  "  Grandville 
has  been  defined  by  later  French  critics  as  //;/  ncvrose,  a  bitter 
and  pessimistic  soul.  It  was  he  who  produced  the  crudest 
compositions  that  ever  appeared  in  La  Caricature.  He  had, 
however,  some  admirable  pages  to  his  credit,  among  others 
his  interpretation  of  Sebastian's  famous  "  L'Ordre  regne  a 
Varsovie."  Fearfully  sinister  is  the  field  of  carnage,  with 
the  Cossack,  with  bloody  pique,  mounting  guard,  smok- 
ing his  pipe  tranquilly,  on  his  face  the  horrible  expression 


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84 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


of  satisfaction  over  a  work  well  done.  Grandville  also  con- 
ceived the  idea,  worthy  of  a  great  cartoonist,  of  Processions 
and  Corteges.  These  enabled  him  to  have  pass  before  the 
eve,  under  costumes,  each  conveying  some  subtle  irony  or 
allusion,  all  the  political  men  in  favor.     Every  occasion  was 


THE   RESUSCITATION    OP"   THE    FRENCH    CENSUKSHU^ 
By  Grandville. 


good.  A  religious  procession,  and  the  men  of  the  day  ap- 
peared as  choir  boys,  as  acolytes,  etc.  Vn  'vote  dc  budget, 
and  then  it  was  iine  marche  de  boeiif  gras,  with  savages, 
musketeers,  clowns  forming  the  escort  of  "  M.  Gros,  gras 
et  betey     It  is  easy  to  guess  who  was  the  personage  so  ciesig- 


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CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  87 

nated.     Nothing  is  more  amusing  than  these  pages,  full  of  a 
verve,  soiitenue  de  pince  sans  tire. 

It  is  one  of  the  many  little  ironies  of  Louis  Philippe's" 
reign  that,  after  having  owed  his  election  to  his  supposed 
advocacy  of  freedom  of  the  press,  he  should  in  less  than  two 
years  take  vigorous  measures  to  stifle  it.      Some  of  the  best 
known  cartoons  that  appeared  in  La  Caricature  deal  with  this 
very  subject.      One  of  these,  which  bears  the  signature  of 
Grandville  and  is  marked  by  all  the  vindictive  bitterness  of 
which  that  artist  was  the  master,  represents  Louis  Philippe 
in  the  role  of  Bluebeard,  who,  dagger  in  hand,  is  about  to 
slay   his   latest   wife.     The   wife,    the    "  Constitution,"    lies 
prostrate,  bound  with  thongs.     The  corpses  of  this  political 
Bluebeard's  other  victims  may  be  seen  through  the  open  door 
of  the  secret  chamber.      Leaning  over  the  balcony  and  scan- 
ning the  horizon  is  the  figure  of  Sister  Anne,   in  this  case 
symbolic   of  the    Press.     The   unfortunate   "  Constitution," 
feeling  that  her   last  minute  has  come,   calls  out:   "Sister 
Press,   do  you  see  nothing  coming?"     The   Press   replies: 
"  I  see  only  the  sun  of  July  beating  down,  powdering  the 
dusty  road  and  parching  the  green  fields."     Again  the  Con- 
stitution   cries:    "Sister    Press,    do    you    see    nothing    com- 
ing?"     And   this   time   the   Press   calls   back:    "I   see   two 
cavaliers  urging  their  horses  across  the  plain  and  carrving  a 
banner."      Below  the  castle  of  Bluebeard  may  be  seen  the 
figures  of  the  two  cavaliers.      The  banner  which  they  carry 
bears  the  significant  word,  "  Republic! 

Another  cartoon  bearing  upon  the  same  subject  represents 
Libertv  wearing  a  Phrvgian  cap,  ilrixing  the  chariot  of  the 
sun.  I'hc  King  and  his  ministers  ami  judges,  abo\-e  whom  a 
crow  hovers  ominously,  llajiping  its  black  wings,  are  seeking 
to  stf)p  the  course  of  lihcrt\'  bv  thrusting  between  the  spokes 


88  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

of  the  wheels  sticks  and  rods  inscribed  "  Lawsuits  against  the 
Press,"  while  Talleyrand  comes  to  their  aid  by  throwing 
beneath  the  wheels  stones  symbolizing  "  standing  armies," 
"  imposts,"  "  holy  alliance,"  and  so  forth.  This  cartoon  is 
inscribed:  "  It  would  be  easier  to  stop  the  course  of  the  sun," 
and  is  the  work  of  Travies,  who  is  best  known  as  the  creator 
of  the  grotesque  hunchback  figure,  "  Mayeux," 


►=(»^* 


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5.^ 


-y^'- 


BARBARISM    AND    THE    CHOLERA    INVADING    EUROPE    IN    1S31. 


RAID    ON    THE    WoKKSUol'    oK    HIE    I.IHEKTY    ()E    IIIE    I'KESS. 


CHAPTER  X 

MAYEUX   AND    ROBERT   xMACAIRE 

A  PECULIAR  feature  of  French  caricature,  espe- 
cially after  political  subjects  were  largely  forbid- 
den, was  the  creation  of  certain  famous  types  who 
soon  became  familiar  to  the  French  public,  and  whose  reap- 
pearances from  day  to  day  in  new  and  ever  grotesque  situa- 
tions were  hailed  with  growing  delight.  Such  were  the 
Mayeux  of  Travies  and  the  Macaire  and  Bertrand  of  Dau- 
mier,  who  in  course  of  time  became  as  celebrated,  in  a  certain 
sense,  as  the  heroes  of  "  The  Three  Musketeers."  In  his 
"  Curiosites  Esthetiques  "  Beaudelaire  has  told  the  story  of 
the  origin  of  Mayeux.  "  There  was,"  he  savs,  ''  in  Paris  a 
sort  of  clown  named  Le  Claire,  who  had  the  run  of  various 
low  resorts  and  theaters.  His  specialty  was  to  make  tctes 
d'expression,  that  is,  by  a  series  of  facial  contortions  he 
would  express  successively  the  various  human  passions.  This 
man,  a  clown  by  nature,  was  very  melancholy  and  possessed 
with  a  mad  desire  for  friendship.  All  the  time  not  occupied 
in  practice  and  in  giving  his  grotesque  performances  he  spent 
in  searching  for  a  friend,  and  when  he  had  been  drinking, 
tears  of  solitude  flo^^ed  freely  from  his  eyes.  Travies  saw 
him.  It  was  a  time  when  the  great  patriotic  enthusiasm  of 
July  was  still  at  its  height.  A  luminous  idea  entered  his 
brain.  Mayeux  was  created,  and  for  a  long  time  afterward 
this  same  turbulent  Mayeux  talked,  screamed,  harangued, 
and  gesticulated  in  the  memory  of  the  people  of  Paris." 
In  a  hundred  different  guises,   in  the  blue  blouse  of  the 

90 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


91 


workman,  the  apron  of  the  butcher,  the  magisterial  gown 
of  judge  or  advocate,  this  hunchback  Mayeux,  this  misshapen 
parody  upon  humanity,  endeared  himself  to  the  Parisian 
public.  \'irulent,  salacious,  corrupt,  he  was  a  sort  of  French 
Mr.  Hyde — the  shadow  of  secret  weaknesses  and  vices,  lurk- 


"  Adam  destroyed  us  by  the  apjilr  ;   Lalayclte  by  the  pear." 

ing  behind  the  Dr.  Jekyll  of  smug  hour^j^^coh  respectability; 
and  the  I-'renchptiblic  recognized  him  as  a  true  picture  ol  their 
baser  selves.  1  hc\  laughed  iiuhilgciitly  ()\  cr  the  broad, 
Rabelaisian    jests    that    uiilailiiigly    accoinpaiued    each    new 


92  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

cartoon — jests  which  M.  Dayot  has  admirably  characterized 
as  "  seasoned  with  coarse  salt,  more  German  than  Gallic,  and 
forming  a  series  of  legends  which  might  be  made  into  a 
veritable  catechism  of  pornography."  This  Mayeux  series 
is  not,  strictly  speaking,  political  in  its  essence.  It  touches 
upon  all  sides  of  life,  without  discrimination  and  without 
respect.  It  even  trespasses  upon  the  subject  of  that  forbidden 
fruit,  "  Le  Poire."  In  an  oft-cited  cartoon,  Mayeux  with 
extended  arms,  his  head  sunken  lower  than  usual  between  his 
huddled  shoulders,  Is  declaiming:  "  Adam  destroyed  us  with 
the  apple;  Lafayette  has  destroyed  us  with  the  pear!  "  And 
later,  when  repeated  arrests,  verdicts,  fines,  edicts  had  ban- 
ished politics  from  the  arena  of  caricature,  Mayeux  was  still 
a  privileged  character.  Like  Chicot,  the  jester,  who  could 
speak  his  mind  fearlessly  to  his  "  Henriquet,"  while  the  ordi- 
nary courtier  cringed  obsequiously,  Mayeux  shared  the 
proverbial  privilege  of  children  and  buffoons,  to  speak  the 
truth.  And  oftentimes  It  was  not  even  necessary  for  his 
creator,  Travles,  to  manifest  any  overt  political  significance; 
the  public  were  always  more  than  ready  to  look  for  it  below 
the  surface.  In  such  a  picture  as  that  of  Mayeux,  in  Napo- 
leonic garb  striking  an  attitude  before  a  portrait  of  the  Little 
Corporal  and  exclaiming,  "  Comme  je  liii  ressemhle!  "  they 
inevitably  discovered  a  hint  that  there  were  other  hypocrites 
more  august  than  Mayeux  who  fancied  themselves  worthy  of 
filling  Napoleon's  shoes. 

Even  more  famous  than  Mayeux  are  the  Macaire  and 
Bertrand  series,  the  joint  invention  of  Phillpon,  who  supplied 
the  ideas  and  the  text,  and  of  Daumler,  who  executed  the 
designs.  According  to  Thackeray,  whose  analysis  of  these 
masterpieces  of  French  caricature  has  become  classic,  they  had 
their  origin  in  an  old  play,  the  "  Auberge  des  Adrets,"  in  which 


Messieurs  Macuire  and  P>ertrand  liave  found  it  expedient  to  make  a  hurried  departure  for 
r.eljjiuni  for  the  jnirpose  of  evadintf  French  justice.  Tlie  eloquent  ISIaeaire,  on  rcaehinj;- 
tiie  frontier, declaims  as  follows;  "  Hail  to  thee.  O  land  of  hospitality  !  Hail,  fatherland  of 
tliose  who  haven't  tjot  any  !  vSacred  refui^e  of  all  unfortunates  proscribed  by  human  justice, 
hail  !     To  all  drooping  hearts  Belgium  is  dear." 


94 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


two  thieves  escaped  from  the  galleys  were  introduced,  Robert 
Macaire,  the  clever  rogue,  and  Bertrand,  his  friend,  the 
"  butt  and  scapegoat  on  all  occasions  of  danger."  The  play 
had  been  half-forgotten  when  it  was  revived  by  a  popular  and 
clever  actor,  Frederick  Lemaitre,  who  used  it  as  a  vehicle  for 
political  burlesque.  The  play  was  suppressed,  but  Lc  Chari- 
vari eagerly  seized  upon  the  idea  and  continued  it  from  day  to 


KXTlNGUISllEl) 


day  in  the  form  of  a  pictorial  puppet  show,  of  which  the  pub- 
lic never  seemed  to  weary.  Thackeray's  summary  of  the 
characters  of  these  two  illustrious  rascals  can  scarcely  be  im- 
proved upon : 

"  M.  Robert  Macaire  [he  says]  is  a  compound  of  Field- 
ing's '  Blueskin  '  and  Goldsmith's  '  Beau  Tibbs.'  He  has  the 
dirt  and  dandyism  of  the  one,  with  the  ferocity  of  the  other: 
sometimes  he  is  made  to  swindle,  but  where  he  can  get  a 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


95 


shilling  more,  M.  Macaire  will  murder  without  scruple;  he 
performs  one  and  the  other  act  (or  any  in  the  scale  between 
them)  with  a  similar  bland  imperturbabihty,  and  accompanies 
his  actions  with  such  philosophical  remarlcs  as  may  be 
expected  from  a  person  of  his  talents,  his  energies,  his  amiable 
life  and  character.  Bertrand  is  the  simple  recipient  of 
Macaire's  jokes,  and  makes  vicarious  atonement  for  his 
crimes,  acting,  in  fact,  the  part  which  pantaloon  performs  in 


LOUIS    I'HIHri'E   AS   CAIN    WITH    THE   ANGELS    OF 
JUSTICE    IN    PURSUIT. 

the  pantomime,  who  is  entirely  under  the  fatal  influence  of 
clown.  He  is  quite  as  much  a  rogue  as  that  gentleman,  but 
he  has  not  his  genius  and  courage.  .  .  Thus  Robert  Macaire 
and  his  companion  Bertrand  arc  made  to  go  through  the 
world;  both  swindlers,  but  the  one  more  accomplished  than 
the  other.  Both  robbing  all  the  world,  and  Robert  robbing 
his  friend,  and,  in  the  event  of  danger,  leaving  him  faithfully 
in  the  lurch.  There  is,  in  the  two  characters,  some  grotesque 
good  for  the  spectator — a  kind  of  'Beggars'  Opera' 
moral.  .  .  And  with  these  two  t\  pes  of  cle\  er  ami  stiipiil 
kna\-ery,    M.    Philipon    and    his    con^ianion    Dauinier    ha\-e 


96 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


created  a  world  of  pleasant  satire  upon  all  the  prevailing 
abuses  of  the  day." 

The  Macaire  andBertrand  series  were  less  directly  political 
in  their  scope  than  that  of  Travies's  hunchback;  at  least,  their 
political  allusions  were  more  carefully  veiled.  Yet  the  first 
of  the  series  had  portrayed  in  Macaire's  picturesque  green 
coat  and  patched  red  trousers  no  less  a  personage  than  the 
old  "  Poire  "  himself,  and  the  public  remembered  it.  When 
politics  were  banished  from  journalism  they  persisted  in 
finding  in  each  new  escapade  of  Macaire  and  Bertrand  an 


LAUGHING   JOHN — CRYING    JOHN. 

July,  1830.     February,  1S48. 

allusion  to  some  fresh  scandal.  If  not  connected  with  the  Kuig 
himself,  at  least  well  up  in  the  ranks  of  governmental  hypo- 
crites. And,  although  the  specific  scandals  upon  which  they 
are  based,  the  joint-stock  schemes  for  floating  worthless 
enterprises,  the  thousand-and-one  plausible  humbugs  of  the 
period,  are  now  forgotten,  to  those  who  take  the  trouble  to 
read  between  the  lines,  these  masterpieces  of  Daumier's 
genius  form  a  luminous  exposition  of  the  morale  of  the 
government  and  the  court  circles. 


CHAPTER  XI 

FROM    CRUIKSriANK    TO    LEECH 

IN  contrast  with  the  brilliancy  of  the  French  artists,  the 
work  in  England  during  these  years,  at  least  prior  to 
the  establishment  of  Piiiicli,  is  distinctly  disappointing. 
The  one  man  who  might  have  raised  caricature  to  an  even 
higher  level  than  that  of  Gillray  and  Rowlandson  was 
George  Cruikshank,  but  he  withdrew  early  in  life  from 
political  caricature,  preferring,  like  Hogarth,  to  concentrate 
his  talent  upon  the  dramatic  aspects  of  contemporary  social 
life.  Yet  at  the  outset  of  his  career,  just  as  he  was  coming  of 
age,  Cruikshank  produced  one  cartoon  that  has  remained 
famous  because  it  anticipated  by  thirty  years  the  attitude  of 
Mill  and  Cobden  in  1846.  It  was  in  i  8  i  5,  just  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Waterloo  had  secured  an  era  of  peace  for  Europe,  that 
he  produced  his  protest  against  the  laws  restricting  the  im- 
portation of  grain  into  England.  He  called  it  "  The  Bless- 
ings of  Peace;  or,  the  Curse  of  the  Corn  Bill."  A  cargo  of 
foreign  grain  has  just  arrived  and  is  being  offered  for  sale  by 
the  supercargo:  "  Here  is  the  best  for  littv  shillings."  On 
the  shore  a  group  ol  British  landholders  wdve  the  foreigner 
away:  "  We  won't  ha\e  it  at  anv  price.  We  are  determined 
to  keep  up  our  own  to  eight\'  shillings,  and  it  the  poor 
can't  buy  it  at  that  price,  whv,  thev  must  starxe."  In  the 
background  a  storehouse  with  tight-shut  doors  bulges 
with  home-grown  gi-ain.  A  star\  ing  tamilv  staml  \\atching 
while  the  foreign  grain  is  thrown  oxerboartl,  and  the  lather 
says:  "No,   no,  masters,    I'll  not   srar\e,  but   (|uit   iun    nati\e 

97 


98  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

land,  where  the  poor  are  crushed  by  those  they  labor  to  sup- 
port, and  retire  to  one  more  hospitable,  and  where  the  arts 
of  the  rich  do  not  interpose  to  defeat  the  providence  of  God." 
After  Cruikshank,  until  the  advent  of  the  men  who  made 
Punch  famous, — Richard  Doyle,  John  Leech,  John  Tenniel, 
and  their  successors, — there  are  no  cartoonists  in  England 
whose  work  rises  above  mediocrity.  When  the  death  of 
Canning  brought  Wellington  and  Peel  into  power,  a  series  of 
colored  prints  bearing  the  signature  H.  Heath,  and  persist- 
ently lampooning  the  new  ministry,  enjoyed  a  certain  vogue. 
They  scarcely  rose  above  the  level  of  the  penny  comic  valen- 
tine, which  they  much  resembled  in  crudeness  of  color  and 
poverty  of  invention.  One  set,  entitled  "  Our  Theatrical 
Celebrities,"  depicted  the  Premier  as  stage  manager,  the 
other  members  of  the  cabinet  as  leading  man,  premiere 
danseuse,  prompter,  etc.  Another  series  depicts  the  same 
statesmen  as  so  many  thoroughbreds,  to  be  auctioned  off  to  the 
highest  bidder,  and  describes  the  good  points  of  each  in  the 
most  approved  language  of  the  turf.  Lot  No.  i  is  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  described  as  "  the  famous  charger,  Arthur  "; 
Lot  No.  2  is  Peel,  the  "  Good  Old  Cobb,  Bobby,"  and  the 
rest  of  the  series  continue  the  same  vein  of  inane  witticism. 
Somewhat  more  point  is  to  be  found  in  the  portrayal  of  Well- 
ington buried  up  to  his  neck  in  his  own  boot — one  of  the 
universal  Wellington  boots  of  the  period.  The  cartoonist's 
thought,  quite  obviously,  was  that  the  illustrious  hero  of 
Waterloo  had  won  his  fame  primarily  in  boots  and  spurs, 
and  that  as  a  statesman  he  became  a  very  much  shrunken  and 
insignificant  figure.  In  its  underlying  thought  this  cartoon 
suggests  comparison  with  the  familiar  "  Grandpa's  Hat  " 
cartoons  of  the  recent  Harrison  administration.  Very  rarely 
Heath  broke  away  from  home  politics  and  touched  upon  in- 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


99 


ternational  questions  of  the  day.  A  print  showing  the 
Premier  engaged  in  the  task  of  "  making  a  rushlight,"  which 
he  is  just  withdrawing  cautiously  from  a  large  tub  labeled 
"  Greece,"  is  an  allusion  to  the  part  played  by  Great  Britain 


THE    DUKK    (IF     WHI.I.INC.TON    IN    CAKICAI  T  KE 

From  the  collect  ion  of  the  Neiv  York  Public  Library. 

in  helping  to  add  the  modest  light  of  Greek  independence  to 
the  general  illumination  of  ci\ili7,ed  luirope. 

Another  man  whose  work  enjoved  a  long  period  of  slu)p- 
window  popularity,  antl  who  ncAcrthclcss  did  not  always  rise 
abo\-c  the  comic-\alcntinc  lc\cl,  was  John  Doyle,  \\\\o  owes 
his  memory  less  to  his  own  work  than  to  the  fact  that  he  was 
the  tather  of  a  real  master  of  the  art,  Richard  Doyle.  Par- 
ton,  in  his  history  of  "  Caricature  and  Other  Comic  Art," 


loo  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

notes  the  elder  Doyle's  remarkable  prolificness,  estimating  his 
collected  prints  at  upward  of  nine  hundred;  and  he  continues: 
"  It  was  a  custom  with  English  print-sellers  to  keep  portfolios 
of  his  innocent  and  amusing  pictures  to  let  out  by  the  evening 
to  families  about  to  engage  in  the  arduous  work  of  entertain- 
ing their  friends  at  dinner.  He  excelled  greatly  in  his  por- 
traits, many  of  which,  it  is  said  by  contemporaries,  are  the 
best  ever  taken  of  the  noted  men  of  that  day,  and  may  safely 
be  accepted  as  historical.  Brougham,  Peel,  O'Connell, 
Hume,  Russell,  Palmerston,  and  others  appear  in  his 
works  as  they  were  In  their  prime,  with  little  distortion 
or  exaggeration,  the  humor  of  the  pictures  being  in  the 
situation  portrayed.  Thus,  after  a  debate  in  which  allusion 
was  made  to  an  ancient  egg  anecdote,  Doyle  produced  a 
caricature  in  which  the  leaders  of  parties  were  drawn  as  hens 
sitting  upon  eggs.  The  whole  interest  of  the  picture  lies  in 
the  speaking  likeness  of  the  men." 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE    BEGINNING    OF    "  PUNCH  " 

WHAT  the  advent  of  La  Caricature  did  for 
French  comic  art  was  done  for  England  by  the 
birth  of  Piiiiclij  the  "  Eondon  Charivari,"  on 
July  17,  1841.  It  is  not  surprising  that  this  veteran  organ 
of  wit  and  satire,  essentially  British  though  it  is  in  the  quality 
and  range  of  its  humor,  should  have  inspired  a  number  of 
different  writers  successively  to  record  its  annals.  Mr.  M. 
H.  Spielmann,  whose  admirable  volume  is  likely  to  remain 
the  authoritative  history,  points  out  that  the  very  term  "  car- 
toon "  in  its  modern  sense  is  in  reality  a  creation  of  PinicJi's. 
In  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  he  says,  the  approved  phrase  was, 
"  a  mad  designe  ";  in  the  time  of  George  II.  it  was  known 
as  a  "hieroglyphic  ";  throughout  the  golden  age  of  Gillray 
and  Cruikshank  "  caricature  "  was  the  epithet  applied  to  the 
separate  copperplate  broadsides  displayed  in  the  famous 
shops  of  Ackermann,  Mrs.  Humphrey,  and  McClean.  But 
it  was  not  until  July,  1843,  ^vhen  the  first  great  exhibition  of 
cartoons  for  the  Houses  of  Parliament  was  held — gigantic 
designs  handling  the  loftiest  subjects  in  the  most  elevated 
artistic  spirit — that  Piiiicli  inaugurated  his  own  sarcastic  series 
of  "  cartoons,"  and  by  doing  so  permanently  enriched  the 
language  with  a  new  word,  or  rather  with  new  meaning  for 
an  old  word.  Pinu  h,  however,  did  far  more  than  merely  to 
change  the  terminology  ot  caricature;  he  reN'olutloiii/ed  its 
spirit;  he  matle  it  possible  for  (Gladstone  to  say  of  it  that  "  In 
his  early  days,  when  an  artist  was  engaged  to  produce  political 

101 


I02  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

satires,  he  nearly  always  descended  to  gross  personal  carica- 
ture, and  sometimes  to  indecency.  To-day  the  humorous 
press  showed  a  total  absence  of  vulgarity  and  a  fairer  treat- 
ment, which  made  this  department  of  warfare  always 
pleasing." 

As  in  the  case  of  other  famous  characters  of  history,  the 
origin  and  parentage  of  Punch  have  been  much  disputed,  and 
a  variety  of  legends  have  grown  up  about  the  source  of  its 
very  name,  the  credit  for  its  genesis  being  variously  assigned 
to  its  original  editors,  Henry  Mayhew,  Mark  Lemon,  the 
printer  Joseph  Last,  the  writer  Douglas  Jerrold,  and  a 
number  of  obscurer  literary  lights.  One  story  cited  by  Mr. 
Spielmann,  although  clearly  apocryphal,  is  nevertheless 
worthy  of  repetition.  According  to  this  story,  somebody  at 
one  of  the  preliminary  meetings  spoke  of  the  forthcoming 
paper  as  being  like  a  good  mixture  of  punch,  good  for  nothing 
without  Lemon,  when  Mayhew  caught  up  the  idea  and  cried, 
"  A  capital  idea  !      We'll  call  it  Pitiichf  " 

In  marked  contrast  to  its  F  rench  prototype,  the  "  London 
Charivari  "  was  from  the  beginning  a  moderate  organ,  and  a 
stanch  supporter  of  the  Crown.  In  its  original  prospectus 
its  political  creed  was  outlined  as  follows:  ''Punch  has  no 
party  prejudices;  he  is  conservative  in  his  opposition  to 
Fantoccini  and  political  puppets,  but  a  progressive  whig  in  his 
love  of  small  chang^e  and  a  repeal  of  the  union  with  public 
Judies."  And  to  this  day  this  policy  of  ''  hitting  all 
around,"  of  avoiding  any  bitter  and  prolonged  partisanship, 
is  the  keynote  of  Punch's  popularity  and  prestige.  How  this 
attitude  has  been  consistently  maintained  in  its  practical  work- 
ing is  well  brought  out  by  Mr.  Spielmann  in  his  chapter 
dedicated  to  the  periodic  Punch  dinners,  where  the  editorial 
councils  have  always  taken  place : 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


103 


"  When  the  meal  is  done  and  cigars  and  pipes  are  duly 
lighted,  subjects  are  deliberately  proposed  in  half  a  dozen 
quarters,  until  quite  a  number  may  be  before  the  Staff.     They 


THE    LAND    OF   LIISLRTY. 


are  fought  all  round  the  Table,  and  unless  obviously  and 
strikingly  good,  are  probably  rejected  or  attacked  with  good- 
humored  ridicule  or  withering  scorn.  .  .  Ami  when  the  sub- 
ject of  a  cartoon  Is  a  political  one,  the  debate  grows  hot  and 
the   fun   more    lurious,    and    it   usual))    ends  by    lories   and 


104 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


Radicals  accepting  a  compromise,  for  the  parties  are  pretty 
evenly  balanced  at  the  Table;  while  Mr.  Burnand  assails  both 
sides  with  perfect  indifference.  At  last,  when  the  intellectual 
tug-of-war,  lasting  usually  from  half-past  eight  for  just  an 


"UUATf    YOU    YOUNG    YANKEH-NOODLE.    STRIKE    YOUR    OWN    FATHER! 


hour  and  three-quarters  by  the  clock,  is  brought  to  a  con- 
clusion, the  cartoon  in  all  its  details  is  discussed  and  deter- 
mined; and  then  comes  the  fight  over  the  title  and  the 
'  cackle,'  amid  all  the  good-natured  chaff  and  banter  of  a 
pack  of  boisterous,  high-spirited  schoolboys." 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


lO: 


Down  to  the  close  of  the  period  covered  in  the  present 
chapter,  the  cartoon  played  a  relatively  small  part  in  the 
weekly  contents  of  Piiiicli,  averaging  barely  one  a  week,  and 


MR       PUNCH'S        VICTORIAN        ERA 


[1847 


^^y.\^ 


^. 


I.OUIS    I'llIl.iri'K    AS    "  TIIK    NAroI.lXIN    <)K    TKACK. 

From  the  collection  of  the  Xe-v  York  Fiiblic  Library. 

being  omitteii  alrogethei-  Irom  inan\  numbers.  During  these 
years  the  ilominating  spirit  was  unijucstionably  John  I  .ccch, 
who  produced  no  less  than  two  luiiidrctl  and  twent\-three 
cartoons  out  of  a  total  ot  three  tuiiuired  aiui  tourtcen,  or  more 


io6  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

than  twice  as  many  as  all  the  other  contributors  put  together. 
He  first  appeared  with  a  pageful  of  "  Foreign  Affairs  "  in  the 
fourth  issue  of  Punch — a  picture  of  some  huddled  groups  of 
foreign  refugees — a  design  remembered  chiefly  because  it  for 
the  first  time  introduced  to  the  world  the  artist's  sign-manual, 
a  leech  wriggling  in  a  water  bottle. 

Of  Doyle's  political  plates  during  these  early  years,  none 
is  more  interesting  to  the  American  reader  than  the  few  rare 
occasions  upon  which  he  seeks  to  express  the  British  im- 
pression of  the  United  States.  One  of  these,  "  The  Land  of 
Liberty,"  appeared  in  1847.  ^  ^^^^  ^^^  lanky,  but  beard- 
less, LIncle  Sam  tilts  lazily  back  in  his  rocking-chair,  a  six- 
shooter  in  his  hand,  a  huge  cigar  between  his  teeth.  One 
foot  rests  carelessly  upon  a  bust  of  Washington,  which  he 
has  kicked  over.  The  other  is  flung  over  the  back  of  another 
chair  in  sprawling  insolence.  In  the  ascending  clouds  of 
smoke  appear  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  surrounded  by  a  pano- 
rama of  outrages,  duels,  barroom  broils,  lynch  law,  etc.,  and 
above  them  all,  the  contending  armies  of  the  Mexican  war, 
over  whom  a  gigantic  devil  hovers,  his  hands  extended  in  a 
malignant  benediction.  A  closely  analogous  cartoon  of  this 
same  year  by  Richard  Doyle  sharply  satirized  Louis  Philippe 
as  the  "  Napoleon  of  Peace,"  and  depicted  in  detail  the 
unsatisfactory  condition  of  European  affairs  as  seen  from  the 
British  vantage  ground.  As  a  consequence  of  this  cartoon 
Punch  was  lor  some  time  excluded  from  Paris. 

From  1848  onward  the  cartoons  in  Punch  look  upon  the 
world  politics  from  a  constantly  widening  angle.  Indeed, 
the  same  remark  holds  good  for  the  comic  organs  not  only  of 
England,  but  of  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and  the  other  lead- 
ing nations  as  well.  Throughout  the  second  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth  century   the   international    relations   of   the   leading 


io8  CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 

powers  may  be  followed  almost  without  a  break  in  the  car- 
toons of  PiDu'li  and  Judy,  of  the  Fliegende  Blatter  and  the 
Kladdtradatsch,  of  Don  Pirloue,  of  the  Journal  pour  Rire,  of 
Life  and  Puck  and  Judge,  and  the  countless  host  of  their 
followers  and  imitators^ 


d  5 

CO        -! 


>    -2 


CHAPTER  XIII 

RETROSPECTIVE 

THE  close  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
marks  a  convenient  moment  for  a  backward 
glance.  These  fifty  years,  which  began  with  the 
consulship  of  the  first  Napoleon  and  closed  on  the  eve  of  the 
third  Napoleon's  coup  d'etat,  witnessed  the  rise  and  fall  of 
more  than  one  Napoleonic  spirit  in  the  realm  of  comic  art. 
It  was  essentially  a  period  of  individualism,  of  the  one-man 
power  in  caricature.  Existing  conditions  forbade  a  logical 
and  unbroken  development  of  the  political  cartoon;  it  evolved 
only  by  fits  and  starts.  It  was  often  less  an  expression  of  the 
popular  mood  than  a  vehicle  for  personal  enthusiasm  or  per- 
sonal rancor;  at  the  hands  of  just  a  few  masters,  it  verged 
upon  the  despotic.  At  intervals,  first  in  one  country  and  then 
in  another,  a  (iilh-ay,  a  Rowlandson,  a  Daumier,  would  blaze 
forth,  brilliant,  erratic,  meteor-like,  leaving  behind  them  a 
trail  of  scintillating  suggestion,  destined  to  fire  some  new 
fuse,  to  start  caricature  along  some  new  curve  of  eccentricity. 
The  importance  of  these  fifty  years,  the  lasting  influence  of 
these  forerunners  of  the  modern  cartoonists,  must  not  be 
underrated.  Without  the  inspiration  ot  their  brilliant 
successes,  and,  it  mav  also  be  added,  the  useful  lessons  of  their 
errors  ami  fadures,  the  cartoon  ot  t()-da\'  \\()uKl  be  radically 
different,  and  jirobably  greatly  interior  to  what  it  is.  Above 
all,  they  taught,  by  two  trenicmlous  object  lessons,  the  potent 
force  that  lies  in  pictorial  satire — by  the  share  which  I'nglish 
cartoonists  had  in  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon  I.,  and  which 

III 


1  12 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


French  cartoonists  had  in  the  dov/nfall  of  Louis  PhiHppe. 
But  itwas  only  with  the  advent  of  the  modern  comic  weekly  of 
the  high  type  represented  by  Punch  that  it  became  possible 
to  dev'clop  schools  of  caricature  with  definite  aims  and  es- 


DAIMIKK 

Caricat  iiiid  by  Hi'iijamin. 

Daumier  fut  le  peintre  ordinaire 
Des  pairs,  des  deputes  et  des  Robert-Macaire. 
Son  rude  crayon  fait  I'histoire  de  nos  jours. 
— ()  I'etonnante  boule  !  6  la  bonne  fii^ure  ! 
— Je  le  crois  pardieu  bien,  car  Daumier  est 
toujours  Excellent  en  ciiricature. 

tablished  traditions — schools  that  have  tended  steadily  to 
eliminate  and  reject  the  old-time  elements  of  vulgarity  and 
exaggeration,  to  gain  the  increased  influence  that  comes  from 
sobriety  of  method  and  higher  artistic  excellence,  and  to  hold 
erratic    individuality    in   check.      Few    people    who    are   not 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  113 

directly  concerned  in  its  making  ever  realize  how  essentially 
the  modern  caricature  is  a  composite  production.  Take,  for 
example,  the  big,  double-page  cartoon  which  has  become  such 
a  familiar  weekly  feature  in  Puck  or  Jitdge^  with  its  com- 
plicated group  of  figures,  its  suggestive  background,  its  mul- 
titude of  clever  minor  points;  the  germ  idea  has  been  picked 
out  from  perhaps  a  dozen  others,  as  the  result  of  careful 
deliberation,  and  from  this  starting  point  the  whole  design 
has  been  built  up,  detail  by  detail,  representing  the  joint 
cleverness  of  the  entire  editorial  staff.  But  the  collaboration 
reaches  further  back  than  this.  A  political  cartoon  resembles 
in  a  way  a  composite  photograph,  which  embodies  not  merely 
the  superimposed  features  of  the  men  who  sat  before  the 
camera,  but  something  also  of  the  countless  generations  before 
them,  who  have  made  their  features  what  thev  are  by  trans- 
mitting from  father  to  son  something  of  their  own 
personality.  In  the  same  way,  the  political  cartoon  of  to- 
day is  the  product  of  a  gradual  evolution,  mirroring  back  the 
familiar  features  of  many  a  cartoon  of  the  past.  It  is  not 
merely  an  embodiment  of  the  ideas  of  the  satirists  who  sug- 
gested it  and  the  artist  who  drew  it,  but  also  of  many  a  tradi- 
tional and  stereotyped  symbol,  bequeathed  from  generation 
to  generation  bv  artists  dead  and  gone.  The  very  essence 
of  pictorial  satire,  its  alpha  and  omega,  so  to  speak,  is  sym- 
bolism, the  use  of  certain  established  types,  conxentional 
personifications  of  Peace  and  War.  Death  and  I'aiiiiiu-  and 
Disease,  Father  lime  with  his  scythe,  the  Old  Year  and  the 
New;  the  Russian  Bear,  the  British  Lion,  aiul  the  American 
Eagle;  Uncle  Sam  and  Columbia,  Britannia  aiul  John  Bull. 
These  figures,  as  w  c  lia\e  tluni  to-da\,  cannot  point  to  any 
one  creator.  They  arc  not  an  inspiration  of  the  moment, 
a  stroke  ot   o^enuis,  like   I  )aimiiL'i-'s  "  Macaire '"  oi"    I  i"a\  ics's 


114  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

"  Mayeux."  They  are  the  product  of  a  century  of  evolution, 
a  gradual  survival  of  the  httest,  resulting  from  the  uncon- 
scious natural  selection  of  popular  approval.  No  better 
specific  instance  can  be  taken  than  that  of  the  familiar  figure 
of  John  Bull  as  he  appears  from  week  to  week  in  the  con- 
temporarypages  oi  Punch, iov  his  descent  may  be  traced  in  an 
unbroken  line — there  are  no  missing  links.  No  single 
British  caricaturist,  from  Gillray  to  Du  Maurier,  can  claim 
the  credit  for  having  invented  him;  yet  each  in  his  turn  has 
contributed  something,  a  touch  here,  a  line  there,  toward 
making  him  what  he  is  to-day.  As  Mr.  Spielmann  has 
pointed  out,  the  earliest  prototype  of  Piincli's  John  Bull  is  to 
be  sought  in  Gillray's  conception  of  "  Farmer  George,"  that 
figured  in  a  long  series  of  malevolent  caricatures  depicting 
George  III.,  as  a  gaping  country  lout,  a  heavy,  dull-witted 
yokel.  There  is  no  more  curious  paradox  in  the  history  of 
caricature  than  that  this  figure  of  "  Farmer  George,"  con- 
ceived in  pure  malice  as  a  means  of  inspiring  resentment 
against  a  king  popularly  believed  to  care  more  for  his  farm- 
yard than  for  the  interests  of  his  subjects,  should  by  gradual 
transition  have  come  to  be  accepted  as  the  symbolic  figure  of 
the  nation.  Yet  the  successive  steps  are  easy  enough  to 
understand.  When  Gillray's  point  of  attack  had  shifted 
from  the  throne  of  England  to  the  throne  of  France,  his 
type  of  "  Farmer  George  "  needed  but  slight  modification  to 
become  a  huge,  ungainly  ogre,  the  incarnation  of  British 
wrath  against  "  Little  Boney  " — shaking  a  formidable  fist  at 
the  coast  of  Calais,  wading  knee-deep  across  the  channel,  or 
greedily  opening  a  cavernous  jaw  to  take  in  a  soul-satisfying 
meal  of  French  frigates.  But  beneath  the  exaggerated 
ferocity  of  Gillray's  extreme  type,  the  idea  of  a  farmer  as  the 
national  figure  is  never  quite  lost  sight  of.      In  Gillray's  later 


JOBN    I.EEl'H    (1857) 


O    CRUIK8HANK   0820; 


JAMES  GILLRAY  (l802). 

'"'''IIIIJIIIHIH 


Mih|i 


MR.  JOHN    BULL   AT    HOMK. 
SIR  JOHN   TKNNIKI,   IN  *TUN-CH"  (I3;c). 


"-'t 


•^    ' 


/        ^      / 


JOHN^  PHILLIPS   (1829) 


\'  m 


JAMKS   OII.LRaV    (1711-,) 


JOUN    IILI.L  AT   IIOSIK— JAMKS   i;lI.l.llAY   (1700). 


THOMAS   ROttLANU.sON    (170.1) 


Tilli    EVOl.LllO.N    (>!•     JOIl.N     HULL. 


ii6 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


cartoons  the  conception  of  John  Bull  had  already  taken  on  a 
more  consistent  and  definite  form.  At  the  hands  of  Row- 
landson  and  Woodward  he  lost  much  of  his  uncouthness  and 
began  to  assume  a  mellower  and  more  benignant  aspect;  a 
cartoon  by  the  latter,  entitled  "  Genial  Rays,"  pictures  him 
reclining  luxuriously  upon  a  bed  of  roses,  basking  in  "  the  sun 


^4^i«&^i^ 


HENRI    MONNIER    IN    THK     ROLE     OF     JOSKPH    rRL'D- 
HOMME. 

"  Never  sliall  my  daughter  become  the  wife  of 
a  scribbler." 

By  Daitmier 

of  patriotism,"  the  image  of  agricultural  contentment.  A 
certain  coarseness  and  vulgarity,  however,  clung  to  him  until 
well  down  into  the  forties,  when  the  refining  touch  of  Leech 
and  Tenniel  gradually  idealized  him  into  the  portly,  choleric, 
well-to-do  rural  gentleman  who  is  to-day  such  a  familiar 
figure    the    world    over.     This    type   of   John    Bull   as   the 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  117 

representati\  e  Briton  once  called  forth  some  thoroughly 
characteristic  comments  from  John  Ruskin.  "  Is  it  not 
surely,"  he  asks,  "  some  overruling  power  in  the  nature  of 
things,  quite  other  than  the  desire  of  his  readers,  which  com- 
pels Mr.  Punch,  when  the  squire,  the  colonel,  and  the  admiral 
are  to  be  at  once  expressed,  together  with  all  that  they 
legislate  or  fight  tor,  in  the  symbolic  figure  of  the  nation,  to 
present  the  incarnate  Mr.  Bull  always  as  a  farmer — never  as 
a  manufacturer  or  shopkeeper?"  Such  a  view  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Ruskin  is  consistent  with  his  life-long  insistence  upon 
literal  truth  in  art.  But  he  was  obviously  mistaken  when  he 
questioned  that  John  Bull  is  the  deliberate  choice  of  the 
British  public.  The  average  Englishman,  whether  soldier  or 
sailor,  statesman,  merchant,  or  manufacturer,  approves  and 
enjoys  the  pleasant  fiction  that  the  representati\'e  tvpe  is  a 
good,  old-fashioned  country  gentleman,  conservative  and 
rather  insular,  a  supporter  of  landed  interests,  a  patron  of 
country  sports;  in  short,  one  who  lives  his  life  close  to  his 
native  soil,  who  seems  to  personify  the  rolling  down,  the 
close-clipped  hedge,  the  trim  gardenplot,  the  neat  thatched 
roof,  things  which  typify  England  the  world  over. 

Not  only  are  most  of  the  accepted  symbolic  figures — John 
Bull,  Uncle  Sam,  and  the  rest — what  they  are  because  they 
meet  with  popular  ap[iro\al,  but  no  cartoonist  to-day  could 
x'enturc  upon  an\'  radical  departure  trotn  the  established 
type — a  bearded  John  Bull,  a  smooth-sha\en  Uncle  Sam — 
without  calling  down  public  disfavor  upon  his  head.  If  one 
stops  to  think  of  it,  our  own  accepted  national  type,  the  tall, 
lank,  awkward  figure,  the  thin,  angular  Yankee  face  with  a 
shrewd  and  kindly  twinkle  in  the  eve,  is  c\-en  less  representa- 
tive of  the  average  American  than  John  Bull  is  ol  the  average 
Briton.      It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  betore  the  Ci\il  War 


lis  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

our  national  type  frequently  took  the  form  of  a  Southerner — 
regularly  in  the  pages  of  Punch.  To-day,  in  England  and  in 
America,  there  is  but  one  type  of  Uncle  Sam,  and  we  would 
not  tolerate  a  change.  It  may  be  that  in  the  gaunt,  loose-knit 
frame,  the  strong  and  rugged  features  vv-e  recognize  a  kinship 
to  that  sterling  and  essentially  American  type  of  man  which 
found  its  best  exponent  in  Lincoln,  and  that  this  is  the  reason 
why  Uncle  Sam  has  become  the  most  universally  accepted  and 
the  best  belov^ed  of  all  our  conventional  types. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

'48    AND    THE    COUP    d'£TAT 

IT  was  only  natural  that  caricature,  like  every  other  form 
of  free  expression  of  opinion,  should  feel  the  conse- 
quences of  the  general  political  upheaval  of  1848;  and 
these  consequences  differed  widely  in  the  different  countries 
of  Europe,  according  to  the  degree  of  civic  liberty  which  that 
revolutionary  movement  had  effected.  In  Germany,  for 
example,  it  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  whole  group 
of  comic  weeklies,  with  a  license  for  touching  upon  political 
topics  quite  unprecedented  in  that  land  of  imperialism  and 
censorship.  In  Prance,  on  the  contrary,  political  caricature 
came  to  an  abrupt  close  just  at  a  time  when  it  had  begun  to 
give  promise  of  exceptional  interest.  Eouis  Napoleon,  who 
owed  his  elevation  to  the  presidency  of  the  republic  chiefly 
to  the  popular  belief  in  his  absolute  harmlessness,  developed 
a  most  unexpected  and  disconcerting  strength  of  character. 
His  capacity  for  cunning  and  unscrupulousness  was  yet  to  be 
learned;  but  a  feeling  ot  distrust  was  already  in  the  air,  and 
the  caricaturists  were  quick  to  reflect  it.  Louis  Napoleon, 
howe\'er,  was  kccnl\  ali\  e  to  the  dcadK'  harm  wrought  to  his 
predecessor  by  Philipcjn's  pictorial  sharp-shooters,  ami  he  did 
not  propose  to  let  historv  repeat  itself  bv  holding  him  up  to 
pubbc  ridicule,  alter  the  tashion  ot  the  poor  oKI  "  i'oirc," 
the  citizen  king.  Accordingly  the  coup  d' cliil  was  hardly  an 
accomplished  hut  wlicii  press  laws  were  passcil  ot  such  a 
stringent  natui-e  that  the  public  press,  and  pictorial  satire 
along  With  it,  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  vassalage,  dependent 

119 


I20 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


upon  the  imperial  caprice,  a  condition  that  lasted  upward  of 
liftcen  years.  Consequently,  the  few  cartoons  satirizing 
Napoleon  III.,  that  emanate  from  French  sources,  either  be- 
long to  the  closing  years  of  his  reign  or  else  antedate  the  law 
of  I  8^1,  which  denied  trial  by  jury  to  all  cases  of  infringe- 
ment of  the  press  laws.  The  latter  cartoons,  however,  are  of 
special  interest,  for  they  serve  to  throw  importa-nt  light  upon 
the  popular  state  of  mind  just  prior  to  the  famous  coup  d'etat. 
The  majority  of  these  cartoons  appeared  in  the  pages  of 
Chcir'rcari,  and  some  of  the  best  are  due  to  the  caustic  pencil 


ii:"k-   ^j«»i.;     ^^ 


;f<ix'-r' 


^■U^'-^  JZ 


■"THE    ONLY    LAMPS    AUTHORIZED    TO    LIGHT   THE 

PATH    OK    THE    GOVERNMENT  " 

B J  I'lTiiii'/-  ill  "  C/ujrh'aii." 

of  Charles  Vernier.  A  good  specimen  of  this  artist's  work 
is  a  lithograph  entitled  "  The  Only  Lamps  Authorized  for 
the  Present  to  Light  up  the  Path  of  the  Government,"  show- 
ing Louis  Napoleon  marching  along  sedately,  his  hands 
clasped  behind  his  back  and  his  way  illuminated  by  three 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


121 


lantern-bearers.  The  lanterns  are,  respectively,  La  Patric 
(ill  Scir,  Lt'  MofiiUiir  dii  Soir  and  La  Gazette  de  Franee, 
newspapers  then  in  favor  with  the  government.  Just  in  front 
of  Louis  Napoleon,  however,  may  be  seen  a  dark  and 
ominous  manhole.     Another  of  \^ernier's  cartoons  is  called 


,^S5p,  + 


LI9EtT»       ^-" 


A.\     ITALIAN     CARTOON    OF    '48. 

"  The  Shooting  Match  in  the  Champs  Elysees."  The  target 
is  the  head  of  the  Constitution  surmounting  a  pole.  Napo- 
leon is  directing  the  efforts  of  the  contestants.  "  The  man 
who  knocks  the  target  over  completely,"  he  is  saying,  "  I  will 
make  my  Prime  Minister."  The  contrast  between  the  great 
Napoleon  and  the  man  whom  Victor  Hugo  liked  so  to  call 
"  Napoleon  the  Little  "  suggested  another  pictorial  effort  of 
Vernier.  A  veteran  of  the  Grand  Army  is  watching  the 
coach  of  the  state  passing  by,  Napoleon  holding  the  reins. 
"What!  That  mv  Emperor!  "  exclaims  the  veteran,  shad- 
ing his  e}'cs.  "  Those  rascalK  I'.nglishmen,  how  they  have 
changetl  mv  \isi()n  !  "  I  he  methods  by  which  Louis  Napo- 
leon obtained  his  election  tirst  as  President  lor  ten  years,  ami 
secondly  as  I^mpcror  ot  the  French,  were  satirized  in  Chari- 
vari h\  DaumiiT  in  a  cartoon  called  "  Les  .\\-eugles  "  (The 
Blind).      In   the  center  ol    diis  cartoon  is  a  iuige  ballot  jar 


122 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


marked   "  Universal   Suhrage."      Around  this   the   sightless 
voters  are  laboriously  groping. 

Many  were  the  designs  by  which  Daumier  in  CJiarivari 
satirized  Louis  Napoleon's  flirtation  with  the  French  republic. 
In  one  of  them  the  Prince,  bearing  a  remote  resemblance  in 
manner  and  in  dress  to  Robert  Macaire,  is  offering  the  lady 
his  arm.  "  Belle  ihinw,'^  he  is  saying,  "  will  you  accept  my 
escort?"      To  which   she  replies  coldly:   "Monsieur,   your 


NAPOLEON    LE    I'ETIl. 

By  Vernier. 


passion  is  entirely  too  sudden.      I  can  place  no  great  faith 

HI    It. 

Pictorial  expressions  of  opinion  regarding  the  *'  great 
crime  "  of  185  i,  which  once  more  replaced  a  republic  with  an 
empire,  must  be  sought  for  outside  of  France.  But  there 
was  one  subject  at  this  time  upon  which  e\-en  the  strictest  of 
edicts  could  not  enforce  silence,  and  that  was  the  subject  of 
Napoleon's  marriage  to  Eugenie.      The  Emperor's  Spanish 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


123 


bride  was  never  popular,  not  even  during  the  first  years  of  the 
Second  Empire,  before  she  began  to  meddle  A\'ith  affairs  of 
state;  and  in  many  incisive  ways  the  Parisians  heaped  ridicule 
upon  her.  A  curious  little  pamphlet,  with  text  and  illustra- 
tions, about  the  new  Empress  was  sold  in  Paris  at  the  time  of 
the  marriage.  This  pamphlet  was  entirely  complimentary 
and  harmless.  The  biting  humor  of  it  was  on  the  title-page, 
which  the  vendors  went  about  crying  in  the  streets:  "The 


portrait  and  \irtues  of  the  Empress,  all  for  two  sous  I  "  But 
for  a  frank  expression  of  what  the  workl  thought  of  the  nc\\- 
master  of  the  destinies  of  France,  it  is  necessary  to  turn  to  the 
contemporary  pages  of  I'lnnli.  I  he  "  Lcjndc^n  Chari\-ari  " 
\A  as  at  this  time  just  entering  upc^n  its  most  glorious  eptoch  of 
political  caricature.  John  Eeech,  one  ot  the  two  great 
English  cartoonists  of  the  past  half  century,  had  arri\  ed  at 
the  maturity  of  his  talent:  the  second,  John  Tenniel.  was 
destined  soon  to  join  the  staff  of  PiduIi  in  place  of  Richard 
Doyle,  who  resigned  in  protest  against  the  editorial  policy  of 
attacking  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Both  ot  these  artists 
possessed  a  technical  skill  and  a  degree  of  artistic  inspiration 
that  raised  them  far  ahoxe  the  Ie\c1  of  the  mere  caricaturist. 


124 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


And  as  it  happened,  the  U'orld  was  entering  upon  a  long 
succession  of  stormy  scenes,  destined  to  furnish  them  with 
matter  worthy  of  their  pencils.      After  forty  years  of  peace. 


LOUIS    NAPOLEON    AND    MADAME    FRANCE. 


Europe  was  about  to  incur  an  epidemic  of  war.  The  clash 
between  Turkey  and  Russia  in  1S53  was  destined  to  assume 
international  proportions  in  the  Crimean  War;  England's 
troubles  were  to  be  augmented  by  the  revolt  of  her  Indian 
mercenaries;  the  Russian  war  was  to  be  closely  followed  by 
another  between  France  and  Austria;  by  the  enfranchisement 
of  Italy  from  the  Alps  to  the  Adriatic;  the  bitter  struggle 
between  Prussia  and  Austria;  and  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  with  the  Franco-Prussian  War 
looming  up  in  the  near  future.  It  was  on  the  threshold  of 
such  troublous  times,  and  as  if  prophetic  of  the  end  of 
European  tranquillity,  that  Leech  signalized  the  accession  of 
Napoleon    III.     as   Emperor   with    the   significant   cartoon, 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


125 


"France  is  Tranquil!  !  ! ''  Poor  France  cannot  well  be 
otherwise  than  tranquil,  for  Mr.  Leech  depicts  her  bound 
hand  and  foot,  a  chain-shot  fastened  to  her  feet  and  a  sentry 
standing  guard  over  her  with  a  bayonet.  The  artist  soon 
followed  this  up  wnth  another  cartoon,  evidently  suggested 
by  the  initial  plate  of  Hogarth's  famous  series  of  "  The 
Rake's  Progress."  The  Prince  President,  in  the  character  of 
the  Rake,  has  just  come  into  his  inheritance,  and  has  cast  aside 


-vtsmrm^ssr-^f—^- 


PROCLAMATIOH  AU  PEUPLE.FRANCAIS  n.  GILL 


LOllS    NAl'OI.KDN  S     IKdCLAMAlION. 

By  Gill. 

his  former  mistress,  Libertc,  to  whom  he  is  offci'ing  money, 
her  mother  ( Irancc)  standing  b\-,  an  indigiiaiit  witness  to  the 
scene.  His  militar\-  tailor  is  measuring  him  for  a  new 
imperial  uni  loi-in,  w  Jiilc  hcliiiui  him  a  jiricst  ( in  allusion  to  the 


126 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


financial  aid  which  the  Papal  party  was  receiving  from 
Napoleon)  is  helping  himself  from  a  plate  of  money  standing 
beside  the  President.  On  the  floor  is  a  confused  litter  of 
swords,  knapsacks,  bayonets,  crowns,  crosses  of  the  Legion  of 


SPLIT    CROW    IN    THE    CRIMEA. 

From  Puncli. 


Honor,  the  Code  Napoleon,  and  other  miscellaneous  remind- 
ers of  Louis'  well-known  craze  on  the  subject  of  his  uncle 
and  his  uncle's  ideas.  Mr.  Tenniel's  early  cartoons  of  Louis 
Napoleon  are  scarcely  more  kindly.  The  Emperor's  ap- 
proaching marriage  is  hit  off  in  one  entitled  "  The  Eagle  in 
Love,"  in  which  Eugenie,  represented  with  the  most  unflatter- 
ing likeness,  is  employed  in  paring  the  imperial  eagle's  talons. 
In  1853  Tenniel  depicts  an  "  International  Poultry  Show," 
where  we  see  among  the  entries  a   variety  of  eagles — the 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  127 

Prussian  eagle,  the  American  eagle,  the  two-headed  Russian 
and  Austrian  eagles — and  among  them  a  wretched  mongrel, 
more  closely  akin  to  a  bedraggled  barn-door  fowl  than  to  the 
"French  Eagle"  which  it  claims  to  be.  Queen  Victoria, 
who  is  visiting  the  show,  under  escort  of  Mr.  Punch,  remarks : 
"  We  have  nothing  of  that  sort,  Mr.  Punch;  but  should  there 
be  a  lion  show,  we  can  send  a  specimen !    !  " 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    STRUGGLE    IN    THE    CRIMEA 

THE  grim  struggle  of  the  Crimean  War  for  a  time 
checked  Mr.  Punch's  attacks  upon  Napoleon  III., 
and  turned  his  attention  in  another  direction. 
Although  the  war  cloud  in  the  East  was  assuming  portentous 
dimensions,  there  were  many  in  England,  the  Peace  Society, 
the  members  of  the  peace-at-any-price  party,  with  Messrs. 
Bright  and  Cobden  at  their  head,  and  most  conspicuous  of  all 
the  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Aberdeen,  who  deliberately  blinded 
themselves  to  the  possibility  of  war.  It  was  for  the  enlighten- 
ment of  these  gentlemen  that  Mr.  Leech  designed  his  cartoon 
"  No  Danger,"  representing  a  donkey,  eloquent  in  his  stolid 
stupidity,  tranquilly  braying  in  front  of  a  loaded  cannon.  In 
still  another  cartoon  Lord  Aberdeen  himself  is  placidly  smok- 
ing "  The  Pipe  of  Peace  "  over  a  brimming  barrel  of  gun- 
poAvder.  John  Bull,  however,  has  already  become  wide- 
awake to  the  danger,  for  he  is  nailing  the  Russian  eagle  to  his 
barn  door,  remarking  to  his  French  neighbor  that  he  won't 
worry  the  lurkies  any  more.  At  this  time  England  had 
begun  to  watch  with  growing  jealousy  the  cordial  entente 
between  Russia  and  Austria,  for  the  Emperor  Nicholas  was 
strongly  suspected  of  having  offered  to  Austria  a  slice  of  his 
prospective  prize,  Turkey.  This  rumor  forms  the  basis  of 
an  effective  cartoon  by  Leech,  "  The  Old  'Un  and  the  Young 
'Un,"  in  which  the  Russian  and  Austrian  Emperors  are  seated 
at  table,  genially  dividing  a  bottle  of  port  between  them. 
Now  then,  Austria,"  says  Nicholas,  "  just  help  me  finish 

128 


«'  XT. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  129 

the  Port(e)."       Meanwhile,  hostihties  between  Turkey  and 
Russia  had  begun,   and   the   latter  had   already   received  a 
serious  setback  at  Oltenitza,  an  event  commemorated  by  Ten- 
niel  in  his  cartoon  of  "  A  Bear  M'ith  a  Sore  Head."      In  spite 
of  his  blind  optimism,  Lord  Aberdeen  was  by  this  time  finding 
it  decidedly  difficult  to  handle  the  reins  of  foreign  affairs. 
One  of  the  best  satires  of  the  year  is  by  Tenniel,  entitled 
"  The  Unpopular  Act  of  the  Courier  of  St.  Petersburg,"  de- 
picting Aberdeen  performing  the  dangerous  feat  of  driving 
a  team  of  vicious  horses.      The  mettlesome  leaders,  Russia 
and  Turkey,  have  already  taken  the  bit  between  their  teeth, 
while  Austria,  catching  the  contagion  of  their  viciousness,  is 
plunging  dangerously.      This  cartoon  was  soon  followed  by 
another  still  more  notable,  entitled   "  What  It  Has  Come 
To,"  one  of  those  splendid  animal  pictures  in  which  John 
Tenniel  especially  excelled.      It  shows  us  the  Russian  bear, 
scampering  off  in  the  distance,  while  in  the  foreground  Lord 
Aberdeen  is  clinging  desperately  to  the  British  lion,  which  has 
started   in   mad   pursuit,   with   his   mane   erect   and   his   tail 
stiffened   like  a   ramrod;   the   lion   plunges  along,   dragging 
behind  him  the  terrified  premier,  who  is  gasping  out  that   he 
can  no  longer  hold  him  and  is  forced  to  "  let  him  go."      At 
the  same  time  Mr.  Leech  also  represented  pictorially  Lord 
Aberdeen  awakening  to  the  necessity  ot  war  in  his  "  Bom- 
bardnicnt    of    Odessa."        The    cartoon    is    in    two    parts, 
representing  respecti\el\   the  l^nglish   Premier  and  the  Rus- 
sian Kmperor  reading  tlulr  morning  paper.      "  Bombardment 
of  Odessa,"  says  Aberdeen.      "  Dear  me,  this  will  be  \  cry 
disagreeable   to   m\    itnperial    friend."      "  Bombardment   ot 
Odessa,"  says  Nicholas;  "confound  it!      This  will  be  \  cry 
annoying  to  tiear  oKl  Ahcnlccn  1  "      In  the  following  No\  em- 
ber the   I5ritisli   \ictory  of     Inkcrman,    won   against   almost 


130 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


hopeless  odds,  was  witnessed  by  two  members  of  the  Russian 
imperial  family.  Leech  promptly  commemorated  this  fact 
in  his  picture  of  "  I  he  Russian  Bear's  Licked  Cubs,  Nicholas 
and  Michael."  The  cartoon  entitled  the  "  Bursting  of  the 
Russian  Bubble  "  appeared  in  Punch,  October  14,  1854,  just 


after  the  battle  of  the  Alma  had  taken  place  and  part  of  the 
Russian  fleet  had  been  destroyed  by  the  English  and  French 
ships  at  Sebastopol.  This  cartoon  is  by  the  hand  of  Leech. 
The  Russian  Emperor,  Nicholas  I.,  had  boasted  of  the 
"  irresistible  power  "  which  was  to  enable  him  to  overthrow 
the  allied  forces  gathered  in  the  Crimea,  and  here  the  artist 
shows  very  graphically  the  shattering  of  this  "  irresistible 
power  "  and  of  the  "  unlimited  means."  Of  all  the  cartoons 
which  Leech  produced  there  is  none  which  enjoys  a  more 
enduring    fame    than    the    one    entitled    "  General    Fevrier 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


131 


Turned  1  raitor."  Certainly  no  other  in  the  whole  series  of 
Crimean  War  cartoons  appearing  in  Punch  compares  with  it 
in  power.  Yet  splendid  and  effective  as  it  is,  there  is  in  it  a 
cruelty  worthy  of  Grandville  or  Gillray,  and  when  it  appeared 


"GENERAL    FEVRIER"   TURNED.   TRAITOR. 


it  caused  a  shudder  to  run  throuLfh  all  England.  Th.c  Rus- 
sian I^mperor  had  boasted  in  a  speech  on  the  subject  ol  the 
Crimean  W  ar  th:it,  whate\er  torces  I'rance  aiul  j-jigland 
might  be  able  to  seiul  to  the  ti-oiit,  Russia  possessed  two 
generals  on  whom  she  couKl  al\\a\s  i"el}',  Cjeneral  jan\  ler  and 


132  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

General  Fevrier.  In  other  words,  Nicholas  I.  cynically 
alluded  to  the  hardship  of  the  Russian  winter,  on  which  he 
counted  to  reduce  greatly  by  death  the  armies  of  the  Allies  in 
the  Crimea,  But  toward  the  end  of  the  winter,  the  Emperor 
himself  died  of  pulmonary  apoplexy,  after  an  attack  of  in- 
fluenza. In  a  flash.  Leech  seized  upon  the  idea.  General 
Fevrier  had  turned  traitor.  Under  this  title,  the  cartoon  was 
published  by  Punch  in  its  issue  of  March  lo,  1855.  General 
FevTier  (Death  in  the  uniform  of  a  Russian  general)  is  plac- 
ing his  deadly  hand  on  the  breast  of  Nicholas,  and  the  icy  cold 
of  the  Russian  winter — the  ally  in  whom  the  Emperor  had 
placed  his  trust — has  recoiled  upon  himself.  The  tragic 
dignity  and  grim  signilicance  of  this  cartoon  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  Ruskin,  who  regarded  it  as  representing  in 
the  art  of  caricature  what  Hood's  "  Song  of  the  Shirt  " 
represents  In  poetry.  "  The  reception  of  the  last-named 
woodcut,"  he  says,  "  was  in  several  respects  a  curious  test  of 
modern  feeling.  .  .  There  are  some  points  to  be  regretted  In 
the  execution  of  the  design,  but  the  thought  was  a  grand  one; 
the  memory  of  the  word  spoken  and  of  its  answer  could  hardly 
in  any  more  Impressive  way  have  been  recorded  for  the 
people;  and  I  believe  that  to  all  persons  accustomed  to  the 
earnest  forms  of  art  it  contained  a  profound  and  touching 
lesson.  The  notable  thing  was,  however,  that  it  offended 
persons  not  in  earnest,  and  was  loudly  cried  out  against  by  the 
polite  journalism  of  Society.  This  fate  is,  I  believe,  the 
almost  Inevitable  one  of  thoroughly  genuine  work  in  these 
days,  whether  poetry  or  painting;  but  what  added  to  the 
singularity  In  this  case  was  that  coarse  heartlessness  was  even 
more  offended  than  polite  heartlessness." 

As   was   but  natural,    the   Anglo-French   alliance   against 
Russia  is  alluded  to  in  more  than  one  of  Mr.  Punch's  Crimean 


HENRI    KOLllKFOKT    AM'    HIS     l.A.NTKRN. 


134 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


War  cartoons.  One  of  the  earliest  is  a  drawing  by  Tenniel 
of  England  and  France  typified  by  two  fine  specimens  of 
Guards  of  both  nations  standing  back  to  back  in  friendly 
rivalry  of  height,  and  Mr.  Spielmann  records  in  his  "  History 
of  Punch  "  that  the  cut  proved  so  popular  that  under  its  title 
of  "The  United  Service:  "  it  was  reproduced  broadcast  on 
many  articles  of  current  use  and  even  served  as  a  decoration 
for  the  backs  of  playing  cards.  Still  another  cartoon, 
entitled  "  The  Split  Crow  in  the  Crimea,"  represents  England 
and  France  as  two  huntsmen,  hard  on  the  track  of  a  wounded 
and  fleeing  two-headed  bird  !  "  He's  hit  hard  ! — follow  him 
up  !  '■  exclaimed  the  huntsmen.  In  a  French  reproduction  of 
this  cartoon,  which  is  to  be  found  in  Armand  Dayot's  "  Le 
Second  Empire,"  "  Crow  "  is  amusingly  translated  as  coii- 
ro'iNi'    (crown),   and  the  publishers  of  Punch   are  given  as 


BROI'HERS    IN    ARMS.       TH  K    I'RENCH    AND    E.NCiLISH 
TROOPS    IN   THE   CRIMEA. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  135 

"  MM.  Breadburg,  Agnew,  et  Cie."  Another  cartoon  of  the 
same  period  is  called  "Brothers  in  Arms."  It  shows  a  British 
soldier  carrying  on  his  back  a  wounded  French  soldier,  and  a 
French  soldier  carrying  on  his  back  a  wounded  Englishman. 
The  two  wounded  men  are  clasping  hands.  There  is  no 
better  evidence  of  the  utter  dearth  of  French  caricature  at 
this  period  than  the  fact  that  M.  Dayot,  whose  indefatigable 
research  has  brought  together  a  highly  interesting  collection 
of  pictorial  documents  of  all  classes  upon  this  period  of 
French  history,  could  Hnd  nothing  \n  the  way  of  a  cartoon 
in  his  own  country  and  was  forced  to  borrow  from  PiiiirJi 
the  few  that  he  reproduces..  -■>  ■ 

On  the  other  side  the  Russian  cartoonists  were  by  no  means 
backward  in  recording  the  events  of  the  w^ar  and  holding  up 
the  efforts  of  the  Allies  to  pictorial  derision.  The  Russian 
point  of  view^  has  come  down  to  us  in  a  series  of  excellent 
prints  published  in  St.  Petersburg  during  the  months  of  the 
contilct.  In  this  warfare  the  Russians  may  be  said  to  have 
borrowed  from  their  enemies,  for  this  series  is  essentially 
French  in  method  and  execution.  All  through  this  series 
England  and  France  are  shown  buffeted  about  from  pillar  to 
post  by  the  Concjuering  Bear.  A  description  of  one  of  these 
cartoons  will  give  a  fair  general  idea  of  the  entire  series. 
Sir  Charles  Napier,  at  a  dinner  gi\-en  in  his  honor  in  London 
just  before  the  departure  ot  the  Allied  Hect  lor  Kronstadt, 
has  made  the  foolish  boast  that  he  would  soon  imite  his 
hosts  to  dine  with  him  in  St.  Petersburg.  Ol  course  the  licet 
ne\er  reached  St.  i'etershurg,  and  the  iviissian  artist  satir- 
icalh'  summed  up  the  situation  b\'  depicting  Sii-  C  harles  at  the 
top  ol  the  mast,  eiulcaxoring  In  the  aiil  ol  a  large  sp\-glass 
to  catch  a  sight  of  the  Czar's  capital. 

Among  the  crude  American  lithograjihs  ol  this  penotl  the 


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CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  137 

Crimean  War  was  not  forgotten.  A  rather  rare  cartoon, 
entitled  "  Turkey,  John  Bull  and  M.  Frog-Eater  in  a  Bad 
Fix,"  is  especially  interesting  as  an  evidence  that  American 
sympathy  during  the  war  was  in  a  measure  on  the  Russian 
side.  The  Russian  General  Menshikoff  is  standing  on  the 
heights  of  Sebastopol  looking  down  smilingly  and  serenely 
on  the  discomfited  allies,  saying:  "  How  do  you  do,  gentle- 
men? Very  happy  to  see  you.  You  must  be  tired.  Won't 
you  walk  in  and  take  something?"  John  Bull,  seriously 
wounded,  is  lying  prostrate,  bawling  out:  "Come,  come, 
Turk,  no  dodging.  Hulloa  there  !  Is  that  the  way  you  stick 
to  your  friends?  The  coat  of  my  stomach  is  ruined,  my 
wind  nearly  gone.  I  won't  be  able  to  blow  for  a  month. 
Pull  me  out  of  this  at  any  price!  The  devil  take  one  party 
and  his  dam  the  other.  I  am  getting  sick  of  this  business." 
By  his  side  is  the  figure  of  a  Frenchman  just  hit  by  a  cannon- 
ball  from  one  of  the  Russian  guns,  and  crying  out:  "  O!  By 
damn !  I  not  like  such  treat.  I  come  tousand  mile  and 
spend  ver  much  money  to  take  someting  from  wid  you,  and 
you  treat  me  as  I  vas  van  Villin!  Scoundrel  !  Rob- 
bare    !    !    " 

In  closing  the  subject  of  the  Crimean  War,  it  is  worth 
while  to  call  attention  to  one  curious  phase  of  the  war  as 
contained  in  the  programme  of  a  theatrical  entertainment 
given  by  the  French  soldiers  in  the  trenches  of  Sebastopol, 
December  23,  1855.  The  programme  is  headed  "The 
Little  Comic  Review  of  the  Crimea."  It  contains  the  an- 
nouncement ()(  the  Tchernaia  I'heater,  which  four  da\s  later 
is  to  }:)reseiit  three  tlraniatic  pieces.  The  drawing  is  by 
Fucien  Salmont. 

One  final  echo  ot  the  sti-iiggle  in  the  Crimea  is  fouiul  In 
another  ol    1  ciiniers  graphic  animal  pictures,  "   The  British 


■  ■>     .!■ 


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9 


PROGRAMME    OF    A    TIIKATKUAL    I'ERFORMANCE    GIVEN    BY    THE  "tKE.NCH 
SOLDIERS    IN    THE    TRENCHES    BEFORE     SEBASTOI'OL. 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


139 


Lion  Smells  a  Rat,"  which  depicts  an  angry  lion  sniffing 
suspiciousK'  at  the  crack  of  a  door,  behind  which  is  being  held 
the  conference  which  followed  the  fall  of  Sebastopol.  But 
by  far  the  most  famous  instance  of  TennieTs  work  is  his 
series  of  Cawnpore  cartoons,  the  series  bearing  upon  the 
Indian  mutiny  of  1857;  '^^'^  c>ne  of  the  finest,  if  not  the  very 
finest,  of  them  all  is  that  entitled  "  The  British  Lion's  Venge- 
ance on  the  Bengal  Tiger."  It  represents  in  the  life  work  of 
Tenniel  what "  Cieneral  Pevrier  turned  Fraitor  "  stands  for 
in  the  life  work  of  John  Leech.  The  subject  was  suggested 
to  Tenniel  bv  Shirley  Brooks.  It  summeci  up  all  the  horror 
and  thirst  for  revenge  which  animated  England  when  the 
news  came  of  the  treacherous  atrocities  of  the  Sepoy  rebels. 
The  Cawnpore  massacre  of  women  and  children  ordered  by 
the  infamous  Nana  Sahib  had  taken  place  in  June,  and  when 
this  cartoon  appeared  in  Piiiuh,  August  22,  18^7,  England 
had  just  sent  thirty  thousand  troops  to  India.  In  the  picture 
the  British  lion  is  springing  at  the  throat  of  the  Bengal  tiger. 


THE    BRITISU    LIONS    VENGEANCE   ON    Till-    WM.M.    IKiKH. 


140  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

which  is  standing  over  the  prostrate  bodies  of  a  woman  and 
a  child.  The  tiger,  fearful  of  being  robbed  of  its  prey,  is 
snarling  at  the  avenging  lion.  Another  of  the  famous  Cawn- 
pore  cartoons  of  Tenniel  is  descriptive  of  British  vengeance 
on  the  Sepoy  mutineers.  The  English  troops  were  simply 
wild  for  revenge  when  the  stories  came  to  them  of  the 
atrocities  which  had  been  perpetrated  on  English  women  and 
children,  and  their  vengeance  knew  no  bounds.  The  Sepoys 
were  blown  from  the  mouths  of  the  English  cannon.  It  was 
the  custom  of  the  English  soldiers  to  pile  up  a  heap  of 
Sepoys,  dead  or  wounded,  pour  oil  over  them,  and  then  set 
fire  to  the  pile.  The  Tenniel  cartoon,  entitled  "  Justice," 
published  September  12,  1857,  shows  the  figure  of  Justice 
with  sword  and  shield  cutting  down  the  mutineers,  while  be- 
hind her  are  the  British  troops  working  destruction  with  their 
bayonets. 

No  sooner  had  the  English-French  alliance  against  Russia 
come  to  an  end  than  Punch  once  more  began  to  give  expres- 
sion to  his  disapproval  of  Napoleon.  A  hostile  spirit  toward 
Frenchmen  was  ingrained  in  the  very  nature  of  John  Leech, 
and  he  vented  it  freely  in  such  cartoons  as  his  celebrated 
"  Cock-a-doodle-doo !  "  in  which  the  French  cock,  clad  in  the 
uniform  of  a  colonel,  is  crowing  lustily  over  the  results  of  a 
war  of  which  Great  Britain  had  borne  the  brunt.  Or  again, 
in  ''  Some  Foreign  Produce  that  Mr.  Bull  can  very  well 
Spare,"  a  cut  which  includes  French  conspirators,  vile  French- 
women, organ-grinders  (Mr.  Leech  was  abnormally  sensi- 
tive to  street  noises),  and  other  objectionable  foreign  refuse. 
It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  note  that  Leech's  hostility 
to  Louis  Napoleon  was  the  direct  cause  of  Thackeray's  resig- 
nation from  the  staft  of  Punch  in  the  winter  of  1854.  In  the 
letter  written  in  the  following  March,  Thackeray  explains 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


141 


that  he  had  had  some  serious  differences  regarding  the  edi- 
torial poHcy  of  Punch,  2ind  more  specifically  about  the  abuse  of 
Louis  Napoleon  which,  he  says,  "  I  think  and  thought  was 
writing  unjustly  at  that  time,  and  dangerously  for  the  welfare 
and  peace  of  the  country;"  and  he  then  adds  the  specific  in- 
stance which  prompted  him  to  sever  his  connections :  "  Com- 
ing from  Edinburgh,  I  bought  a  Punch  containing  a  picture  of 
a  beggar  on  horseback,  in  which  the  emperor  was  represented 
galloping  to  hell  with  a  sword  reeking  with  blood.  As  soon 
as  ever  I  could,  after  my  return,  I  went  to  Bouverie  Street 
and  gave  in  my  resignation."  Thackeray's  act  had  no  influ- 
ence upon  the  policy  of  Punch.  Leech's  cartoons  grew  steadily 
more  incisive  in  character.  One  of  the  most  extraordinary  is 
that   known    as    "  The    French    Porcupine."      It    represents 


I  UK    FRF.NCU    I'dHCLIMM, 

He  may  be  m  InoBcnaivo  Apimal,  but  he  Don't  Look  like  it 


Napoleon  III.  as  a  porcupine,  bristling  with  1- rcnch  bayonets 
in  place  of  (juills.  One  of  Napoleon's  laxorite  savings  was 
"  I.'Enipirc  c'rs!  In  pdix."  Wut  this  saving  was  \'ery  often 
contradicted  by  events,  and  the  lirst  ten  years  of  his  occupa- 
tion nt  the  I'rcnch  throne  showed  Irance  embroiled  in  the 
Crimean  War  and  the  war  with  Austria.  In  prcfKiration  for 
the  latter  conflict  a   large  increase  was  being  made   in   the 


142  CENTLRY  IN  CARICATURE 

French  military  armament;  and  Leech  seized  upon  the  em- 
peror's dictum  only  to  express  his  skepticism.  The  cartoon 
appeared  in  March,  1859.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  idea 
in  this  cartoon  had  previously  been  used  in  another  called 
"  The  Puppet  Show,"  published  in  June,  1854,  depicting  the 
Czar  Nicholas  in  a  manner  closely  similar;  yet  Mr.  Spiel- 
mann,  who  notes  this  fact,  adds  that  Mr.  Leech  had  probably 
never  seen,  or  else  had  forgotten,  the  earlier  caricature.  This 
"  French  Porcupine  "  is  cited  as  an  mstance  of  Leech's  ex- 
traordinary speed  in  executing  a  cartoon  directly  upon  the 
woocien  block.  The  regular  Punch  dinner  had  that  week 
been  held  a  day  late.  "  Every  moment  was  precious,  and 
Leech  proposed  the  idea  for  the  cartoon,  drew  it  in  two  hours, 
and  caught  his  midday  train  on  the  following  day,  speeding 
awav  into  the  country  with  John  Tenniel  for  their  usual  Sat- 
urday hunt."  It  was  during  this  same  year,  18 1^9,  at  the 
close  of  the  war  which  humbled  Austria  and  forced  her  to 
surrender  \'enetia  to  Sardinia,  that  Leech  voiced  the  suspicion 
that  Louis  was  casting  longing  eyes  upon  Italian  territory  in  a 
cartoon  entitled  "  A  Scene  from  the  New  Pantomime."  Na- 
poleon III.  here  figures  as  a  clown,  a  revolver  in  his  hand,  a 
goose  labeled  Italy  protruding  from  his  capacious  pocket. 
He  is  earnestly  assuring  Britannia,  represented  as  a  stout, 
elderly  woman,  eying  him  suspiciously,  that  his  intentions 
are  strictly  honorable. 


PART   III 

THE  CIVIL  AND  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  JVARS 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE    MEXK^AN    WAR    AND    SLAVERY 

IN  this  country  the  political  cartoon,  which  practically 
began  with  William  Charles's  parodies  upon  Cjillray, 
developed  in  a  fitful  and  spasmodic  fashion  until  about 
the  middle  of  the  century.  Their  basis  was  the  Gillray 
group  of  many  ligures,  and  they  had  also  much  of  the  Gill- 
rav  coarseness  and  indecency,  with  a  minimum  of  artistic 
skill.  They  were  mostly  lithographs  of  the  crudest  sort, 
designed  to  pass  from  hand  to  hand,  or  to  be  tacked  up  on 
the  wall.  It  was  not  until  the  Hrst  administration  of  Andrew 
Jackson  that  a  school  of  distinctly  American  political  cari- 
cature can  be  said  to  have  existed.  It  was  in  i  S48  that  the 
lirm  of  Currier  &  Ives,  with  an.  ofHce  in  Nassau  Street,  in 
New  York  City,  began  the  publication  of  a  series  of  cam- 
paign caricatures  of  suflicient  merit  to  ha\e  been  a  serious 
factor  in  influencing  public  opinion.  Crude  as  thev  are, 
these  lithographs  are  exceedmgh  interesting  to  study  in  tie- 
tail.  Ihev  tell  their  story  \'er\-  plainly,  e\-en  apart  from  die 
legentis  inclosed  in  the  huge  balloon-like  loops  issuing  Irom 
the  lips  ol  each  member  of  the  group — loops  that  suggest  a 
grotesque  resemblaiue  to  a  soap-bubble  party  on  a  large 
scale.  There  is  an  amusing  stiffness  about  the  ligures.  Thev 
stand  in  such  painfully  |)recise  attitudes  that  at  a  little  dis- 

143 


M'.W    KDllIuN    CF    MAI  111.111  —  llA.NK-ullS    liHUSl 


1837- 


One  of  the  caricatures  inspired  by  the  United  States  Bank  Case. 
Froin  the  collection  of  the  Xeiv  Yoric  Pubic  Library. 


liAI.AAM    AND    liAI.AAM  S    ASS. 

One  of  tlie  caricatures  inspired  by  the  United  States  Bank  Case. 
Frotn  the  collection  of  the  7W?ii  York  Public  Library. 


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CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  149 

tance  they  might  readily  be  mistaken  for  some  antiquated 
fashion  plates.  The  faces,  however,  are  in  most  cases  excel- 
lent likenesses;  they  are  neither  distorted  nor  exaggerated. 
The  artists,  while  sadly  behind  the  times  in  retaining  the  use 
of  the  loop  which  Continental  cartoonists  discarded  much 
earlier,  were  in  other  respects  quite  up-to-date,  especially  in 
adopting  the  method  of  the  elder  Doyle,  whose  great  con- 
tribution to  caricature  was  that  of  drav/ing  absolutely  faithful 
likenesses  of  the  statesmen  he  wished  to  ridicule,  relying  for 
the  humor  of  the  cartoon  upon  the  situation  in  which  he  placed 
them.  It  was  only  natural  that  the  events  of  the  Mexican 
War  should  have  inspired  a  number  of  cartoons.  One  of 
these  is  entitled  "  Uncle  Sam's  TayloriHcs,"  and  shows  a 
complacent  Yankee  coolly  snipping  a  Mexican  in  two  with  a 
huge  pair  of  shears.  One  blade  bears  the  inscription  "  Vol- 
unteers," and  the  other  "  General  Taylor."  The  Yankee's 
left  arm  is  labeled  "  Eastern  States,"  the  tail  of  his  coat 
"  Oregon,"  his  belt  "  Union,"  his  left  leg  "  Western  States," 
and  his  right  leg,  which  he  is  using  vigorously  on  the  Mexi- 
can, "  Southern  States,"  and  the  boot  "  Texas."  Below  the 
discomfited  Mexican  yawns  the  Rio  Grande.  Behind  the 
Yankee's  back  John  Bull — a  John  Bull  of  the  type  introduced 
by  William  Charles  during  the  War  of  18  12 — is  looking  on 
enviously. 

American  national  feeling  on  the  subject  of  the  European 
Powers  deriving  benefit  from  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Cali- 
fornia is  illustrated  by  a  cartoon  which  shows  the  United 
States  ready  to  defend  her  possessions  by  force  of  arms.  The 
\-arious  Powers  ha\e  crossed  the  sea  and  arc  \  cry  near  to  our 
coast.  Queen  \'ictoria,  mounted  on  a  hull,  is  in  the  lead. 
She  is  saying:  "Oh,  tleai-  Albert,  don't  nou  cv\  tor  me. 
I'm  off  for  California  with  my  shovel  on  ni\  knee."     Behmd 


<  H 


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152  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

her  is  the  figure  of  Russia,  saying:  "  As  something  is  Bruin, 
I'll  put  in  my  paw,  while  the  nations  around  me  are  making  a 
Jaw."  Louis  Napoleon,  who  at  the  time  had  just  been 
elected  President  of  the  French,  is  drawn  in  the  form  of  a 
bird.  He  is  Hying  over  the  heads  of  Victoria  and  Russia,  and 
singing:  "  As  you  have  gold  for  all  creation,  den  please  give 
some  to  La  Grand  Nation.  I  have  just  become  de  President, 
and  back  I  shall  not  like  to  went."  In  the  distance  may  be 
seen  Spain,  and  beyond  the  United  States  fleet.  Along  the 
shore  stretch  the  tents  of  an  American  army.  Ominously 
coiled  up  on  the  rocks  is  the  American  rattlesnake  with  the 
head  of  President  Taylor.  Back  of  the  camp  is  a  battery  of 
American  guns  directed  by  the  American  eagle,  which  wears 
the   head  of  General   Scott,   saying:     "  Retreat,   you   poor 

d s !     Nor  a  squabble  engender,  for  our  Gold  unto  you 

we  will  never  surrender.  Right  about  face !  Double  quick 
to  the  rear!  And  back  to  your  keepers  all  hands  of  you 
steer." 

The  Presidential  election  of  1852  was  cartooned  under  the 
title  "  Great  Foot  Race  for  the  Presidential  Purse  ($100,- 
000  and  Pickings)  Over  the  Union  Course,  1852."  The 
Whigs,  encouraged  by  their  success  with  General  Taylor,  put 
forth  another  military  officer,  General  Scott,  as  their  candi- 
date, but  in  this  cartoon  Daniel  Webster  is  shown  to  be  well 
in  the  lead  and  receiving  the  plaudits  of  most  of  the  specta- 
tors. Behind  him  is  Scott,  and  a  little  way  back  is  Franklin 
Pierce,  who  proved  the  ultimate  winner.  "  I  can  beat  you 
both,  and  walk  in  at  that,  although  you  had  a  hundred  yards 
the  start  of  me,"  is  Webster's  conviction.  "  Confound  Web- 
ster!  "  cries  Scott.  "  What  does  he  want  to  get  right  in  my 
wav  for?  If  he  don't  give  out,  or  Pierce  don't  faint,  I  shall 
be  beaten."      "  No,  no,  old  Fuss    and    Feathers,"    retorts 


DEFENCE   OF   THE   CALIFORNIA    BANK 


/■'row  tlie  collection  of  the  Xcvo  York  Historical  Society. 


,     CHl,/.l    mOTHACE    H)H   THt    PBtSlOrNTlAL   PUHSE    SIOO.OOO    AND    PICKINGS    OVEH   THE    UNION    tPURSE    1852 


/•I  out  the  collection  of  the  .\e;v  Yoi  k  I  lisloiical  Society. 


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156  CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 

Pierce,  "  you  don't  catch  this  child  fainting  now.  I  am  going 
to  make  good  time !  Whether  I  win  or  not,  Legs,  do  your 
duty." 

Caricature  dealing  with  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1856 
is  represented  by  the  cartoon  called  "  The  Presidential 
Campaign  of  '56."  Buchanan,  who  proved  the  successful 
candidate,  is  mounted  on  a  hideous  monster  resembling  a 
snake,  and  marked  "  Slavery."  The  monster  is  being 
wheeled  along  on  a  low,  flat  car  drawn  by  Pierce,  Douglas, 
and  Cass.  A  star  bearing  the  word  "  Kansas  "  is  about  to 
disappear  down  the  monster's  throat.  In  the  distance  Fre- 
mont, on  horseback,  is  calling  out:  "  Hold  on!  Take  that 
animal  back!  We  don't  want  it  this  side  of  the  fence." 
Buchanan  is  saying,  "  Pull  down  that  fence  and  make  way  for 
the  Peculiar  Institution."  The  fence  in  question  is  the 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  The  faces  of  Cass,  Douglas,  and 
Pierce,  who  are  drawing  along  the  monster,  are  obliterated — 
they  are  absolutely  formless. 

The  evils  of  slavery  from  a  Northern  point  of  view  are 
shown  in  a  cartoon  called  "  No  Higher  Law."  King  Slavery 
is  seated  on  his  throne  holding  aloft  a  lash  and  a  chain. 
Under  his  left  elbow  is  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  resting  on 
three  human  skulls.  Daniel  Webster  stands  beside  the 
throne,  holding  in  his  hand  the  scroll  on  which  is  printed,  "  I 
propose  to  support  that  bill  to  the  fullest  extent — to  the 
fullest  extent."  A  runaway  slave  is  fighting  oft  the  blood- 
hounds that  are  worrying  him,  and  in  the  distance,  on  a  hill, 
the  figure  of  Liberty  is  toppling  from  her  pedestal. 

The  cartoon  "  Practical  Illustration  of  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  "  sums  up  very  completely  Abolitionist  sentiment  on  the 
subject.  7  he  slaveholder,  with  a  noose  in  one  hand  and  a 
chain   in  the  other,   a   cigar   in  his  mouth  and  his  top-hat 


3 


158 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


THE  GREAT   DISUNION   SERPENT, 


From  tfie  coCh'ction  oftln'  Nevj  York  Historical  Society. 

decorated  with  the  single  star,  which  was  the  sign  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  is  astride  of  the  back  of  Daniel  Web- 
ster, who  is  crawling  on  all-fours.  In  Webster's  left  hand 
Is  the  Constitution.  "  Don't  back  out,  Webster,"  says  the 
slaveholder.  "  If  you  do,  we're  ruined."  The  slave-woman 
who  is  being  pursued  has  taken  refuge  with  William  IJoyd 
Garrison,  of  the  Boston  Liberator,  who  is  saying:  "  Don't 
be  alarmed,  Susanna,  you're  safe  enough."  One  of  Garri- 
son's arms  is  encircling  the  negress's  waist,  at  the  end  of  the 
other  is  a  pistol.  In  the  back  of  the  picture  is  the  Temple  of 
Liberty,  over  which  two  flags  are  flying.  On  one  flag  we 
read:  "All  men  are  born  free  and  equal;"  on  the  other, 
"  A  day,  an  hour,  of  virtuous  Liberty  is  worth  an  Age  of 
servitude." 


CHAPTER   XVII 

NEGLECTED    OPPORTUNITIES 

DOWN  to  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
I  the  history  of  American  pohtical  caricature  is  a 
history  of  lost  opportunities.  Revolution  and 
war  have  always  been  the  great  harvest  times  of  the  car- 
toonist. Gillray  and  Rowlandson  owe  their  fame  to  the 
Napoleonic  wars;  Philipon  and  Daumier,  to  the  overthrow 
of  Louis  Philippe;  Leech  and  Tenniel  reached  their  zenith  in 
the  days  of  the  Crimean  War  and  the  Sepoy  Muti':y.  It  is 
not  the  election  cartoon,  or  the  tariff  cartoon,  or  the  cartoon 
of  local  politics,  it  is  the  war  cartoon  that  is  most  widely 
hailed  and  longest  remembered.  Yet  of  all  the  wars  in 
which  the  United  States  has  been  engaged,  not  one  has  given 
birth  to  a  great  satiric  genius,  and  none  but  the  latest,  our 
recent  war  with  Spain,  has  received  comprehensive  treatment 
in  the  form  of  caricature.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  and  that  of  1812  failed  to  inspire  any  worthier 
efforts  than  William  Charles's  crude  imitations  of  Gillray. 
The  mechanical  processes  of  printing  and  engraving,  the 
methods  of  distribution,  the  standards  oi  public  taste,  were 
all  still  too  primitix'e.  The  Mexican  W^ar  was  commem- 
orated in  a  number  of  the  popular  lithographs  of  the  day; 
but  it  was  not  a  prolonged  struggle,  nor  one  calculated  to  stir 
the  public  niiiul  prolouiuiU.  With  the  Ci\il  W^ir  the  case 
was  radically  diHcrent.  1  icrc  was  a  struggle  which 
threateneil  not  only  national  honor,  Init  national  existence — a 
struggle  which  prolonged  itselt  grimK,  month  atter  montli, 

159 


i6o 


CENTURY  TX  CARICATURE 


and  was  borne  home  to  a  great  majority  of  American  families 
with  the  force  of  personal  tragedy,  arraying  friend  against 
friend,  and  father  against  son,  and  offering  no  brighter  hope 
for  the  future  than  the  vista  of  a  steadily  lengthening  death- 
roll.  There  was  never  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  nation 
when  the  public  mind,  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other,  was  in  such  a  state  of  tension;  never,  since  the  days  of 
Napoleon,  had  there  been  such  an  opportunity  for  a  real 
master  of  satiric  art.      It  seems  amazing,  as  one  looks  back 


■r. 

T 

r.sr^   //V'J-  ."'  ' 

wAa't   w/ 

n. 

/<.c  '  /.■■■/  r- 

K^^^H^^ 

."'"" 


-■"■I^ 


ROUGH    AND     HEADY    IO(()MOflVL    AGAINST    THt     riELD. 

Fro7n  the  collfclioii  of  the  NeK<  York  Historical  Society. 

over  the  pictorial  records  of  these  four  years,  that  the  magni- 
tude of  the  events  did  not  galvanize  into  activity  some  un- 
known genius  of  the  pencil,  and  found  then  and  there  a  new 
school  of  American  caricature  commensurate  with  the  fever- 
heat  of  public  sentiment.  The  existing  school  of  caricature 
seems  to  have  been  absurdly  inadequate.     The  prevailing 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  i6r 

types  were  a  sort  of  fashion-plate  lithograph — groups  of 
public  men  in  mildly  humorous  situations,  their  features  fixed 
in  the  solemn  repose  of  the  daguerreotypes  upon  which  they 
were  probably  modeled;  or  else  the  conventional  election 
steeplechase,  in  which  the  contestants,  with  long,  balloon-like 
loops  trailing  from  their  mouths,  suggest  an  absurd  semblance 
to  the  cowboys  of  a  \Vild  West  show,  all  engaged  in  a  vain 
attempt  to  lasso  and  pull  in  their  own  idle  words.  Many  of 
the  cartoons  actually  issued  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War 
impress  one  with  a  sense  of  indecorum,  of  ill-timed  levity. 
What  was  wanted  was  not  the  ineptitude  of  feeble  humor, 
but  the  rancor  and  venom  of  a  Gillray,  the  stinging  irony  of  a 
Daumier,  the  grim  dignity  of  a  Tenniel.  And  it  was  not 
forthcoming.  The  one  living  American  who  might  have 
produced  work  of  a  high  order  was  Thomas  Nast;  but 
although  Nast's  pencil  was  dedicated  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  in  the  series  of  power- 
ful emblematic  pictures  that  appeared  in  Harper  s  ll'eekly, 
his  work  as  a  caricaturist  did  not  begin  until  the  close  of  the 
war. 

It  is  interesting  to  conjecture  what  the  great  masters  of 
caricature  would  have  made  of  such  an  opportunity.  The 
issues  of  the  war  wcxc  so  clear-cut,  their  ethical  signiticance  so 
momentous,  that  an  Amcricnn  (iillray,  a  Unionist  Gillray, 
would  have  fountl  material  for  a  scries  of  cartoons  of 
cKxiuciit  ami  grewsome  power.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  what 
form  they  would  ha\'e  taken  :  an  Uncle  Sam,  writhing  in 
agon\.  his  limbs  shackled  with  the  chains  of  shncrv.  his  lips 
gaggeil  with  the  Fugitive  Sla\c  Law,  slowly  being  sawn 
asunder,  while  Abolition  and  Secession  guitle  the  opposite 
ends  of  the  saw,  or  else  the  American  l'"agle  being  worrieil 
and  torn  limb  from  limb  bv  Southern  hloodhouiuls  ami  stung 


^ 


^ 


^ 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  163 

by  copperheads,  while  the  British  Lion  and  the  rest  of  the 
European  menagerie  look  on,  wistfully  licking  their  chops 
and  with  difficulty  restraining  themselves  from  participating 
in  the  feast.  Such  a  cartoonist  would  have  found  a  mine  of 
suggestion  in  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  " ;  he  would  have  crowded 
his  plates  with  Legrees  and  Topsies,  Uncle  Toms  and  Sambos 
and  Quimbos,  fearful  and  wonderful  to  look  upon,  brutal, 
distorted,  and  unforgettable. 

It  is  equally  easv  to  imagine  what  a  Daumier  might  have 
done  with  the  material  afforded  by  the  Civil  War.  Some 
types  of  faces  seem  to  defy  the  best  efforts  of  the  caricaturist 
— smooth,  regular-featured  faces,  like  that  of  Lord  Rosebery, 
over  which  the  pencil  of  satire  seems  to  slip  without  leaving 
any  effective  mark.  Other  faces,  strong,  rugged,  salient, 
seem  to  invite  the  caricaturist's  efforts;  and  these  were  the 
types  that  predominated  among  the  leaders  of  the  struggle 
for  the  Union.  Daumier's  genius  lay  in  his  ability  to  carica- 
ture the  human  face,  to  seize  upon  a  minimum  of  lines  and 
points,  to  catch  some  absurd  semblance  to  an  inanimate  object, 
some  symbolic  suggestion.  And  when  once  found,  he  would 
harp  upon  it,  ringing  all  possible  changes,  keeping  it  in- 
sistently, mercilessly  before  the  public.  One  can  fancy  with 
^^•hat  a\'iditv  he  would  ha\e  seized  upon  the  stolid,  indomit- 
able figure  of  (Jrant,  intrenched  behind  his  big,  black,  ubiq- 
uitous cigar.  i'tiat  cigar  would  have  become  the  center  of 
interest,  the  portentous  symbol  of  Cirant's  dogged,  taciturn 
persistence,  (gradually  that  cigar  would  ha\e  grown  and 
grown,  its  thickening  smoke  spreading  in  a  dense  w^ar  cloud 
()\  er  the  whole  series  of  cartoons,  until  finalK  it  became  the 
black,  shining  nui//lc  ol  a  cannon,  bek'liing  forth  the  powder 
and  tire  and  animiinition  that  was  to  dccuic  the  issue  ot  the 
war.      \\'hat    Icnnicl  wouM  ha\f  done  is  e\ii.lencetl  b\-  what 


'^^'/ir/j- 


9, 


^^.%^ 


nast's  famous  cartoon  "pkace." 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  165 

he  actually  did  in  Punch.  The  great  tragedies  of  those  four 
years,  Gettysburg  and  Bull  Run  and  the  Battle  of  the  Wilder- 
ness, would  have  been  pictured  with  the  tragic  dignity  that 
stamps  his  famous  cartoon  in  which  he  commemorated  the 
assassination  of  Lincoln. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 


THE    SOUTH    SECEDES 


IN  view  of  what  might  have  been  done,  it  Is  somewhat 
exasperating  to  look  over  the  actual  cartoons  of  the 
war  as  they  have  come  down  to  us.  Even  when  a 
clever  idea  was  evolved  none  seemed  to  have  the  cleverness  or 
the  enterprise  to  develop  it.  As  all  the  modern  cartoonists 
realize,  nothing  is  more  effective  than  a  well-planned  series. 
It  is  like  the  constant  dropping  that  wears  away  the  stone. 
The  most  potent  pictorial  satire  has  always  been  the  gradual 
elaboration  of  some  clever  idea — the  periodic  reappearance 
of  the  same  characters  in  slightly  modified  environment,  like 
the  successive  chapters  of  a  serial  story.  The  public  learn 
to  look  forward  to  them,  and  hail  each  reappearance  with  a 


ViKUIMA    PA/Jtl.lU. 


renewed  burst  of  enthusiasm.  The  cartoonists  of  the  Civil 
^^'ar  do  not  seem  to  have  grasped  this  idea.  A  single  ex- 
ample will  serve  as  an  illustration.  A  clever  cartoon,  en- 
titled "  \'irginia  Pausing,"  appeared  just  at  the  time  that 
Virginia,  the  last  of  the  States  to  secede,  joined  the  Con- 

i66 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


167 


federacy.  The  several  Southern  States,  represented  as  young 
rats,  are  ga)'ly  scampering  oft,  in  the  order  in  which  they 
seceded,  South   Carolina  heading  the  procession.      Virginia 


somh:  envelopes  of  the   tlmk  of  the  war. 

straggling  in  the  rear  finds  herself  under  the  paw  of  "  Uncle 
Abe,"  represented  as  a  watchful  and  alert  old  inouser,  and 
has  paused,  despite  herself,  to  consider  her  next  step.  Vhe 
Union,  personified  as  the  mother  rat  of  the  brood,  lies  stark 
and  stift  on  her  back,  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes  wa\  ing  over 
her  corpse,  and  underneath,  the  legend,  "  ilie  I  iiion  must 
and  shall  be  preserxed."  Now  this  idea  of  the  Sourhcni 
States  as  a  brood  of  "  Secession  rats  "  was  capable  ot  iiihnitc 
elaboration.  it  ml^hr  ha\c  been  (ai-ricd  on  throughout  the 
entire  four  years  ot  the  struggle, the  procession  prescrxing  the 
same    significant    ortler,    xxith    South    Carolnia    ni    the    leatl. 


1 68 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


\^irginia  bringing  up  the  rear,  and  Lincoln, 
i^'^^  as  a  wise  and  resourceful  mouser,  ever  in 

pursuit.  It  could  have  shown  the  rats  at 
bay,  cornered,  entrapped — in  short,  the 
whole  history  of  the  war  in  a  form  of  genial 
allegory.  But  if  the  initial  cartoon,  "  \'ir- 
ginia  Pausing,"  ever  had  a  sequel,  it 
perished  in  the  general  wreckage  of  the 
Confederacy. 
^1^^  The  welcome  which  awaited  caricature, 

I^^^Hil  even  of  the  crudest  sort,  at  the  outbreak  of 

the  war  is  illustrated  by  the  curious  vogue 
enjoyed  by  en\'elopes  adorned  with  all  sorts 
of  patriotic  and  symbolic  devices — an  iso- 
lated tombstone  inscribed  "  Jeff  Davis 
alone,"  a  Confederate  Mule,  blanketed 
with  the  Stars  and  Bars — a  slave-owner 
vainly  brandishing  his  whip  and  shouting 
to  a  runaway  slave,  "  Come  back  here,  you 
black  rascal."  The  latter,  safe  within  the 
shadow  of  Fortress  Monroe,  defiantly 
places  his  thumb  to  his  nose,  and  in  allusion 
to  General  Butler's  famous  decision,  re- 
torts: "Can't  come  back,  nohow,  massa. 
Dis  chile's  CONTRABAN'." 

It  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  Lincoln 
throughout  the  struggle  was  a  favorite 
subject  for  the  caricaturist.  His  tall, 
ungainly,  loose-knit  figure,  his  homely 
features,  full  of  noble  resolve,  seemed  to  offer  a  standing 
challenge  to  the  cartoonist,  who  usually  treated  him  with  in- 
dulgent  kindness.      The   exceptions    are    all   the   more   con- 


'tl 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


169 


spicuous.  A  case  in  point  is  the  cartoon  commemorating 
Lincoln's  first  call  for  volunteers  for  three  months — a  period 
then  supposed  to  be  ample  for  crushing  out  the  rebellion. 
The  artist  has  represented  Lincoln  as  the  image  of  imbecilic 
dismay,  while  a  Union  soldier  with  a  sternly  questioning  gaze 


relentlessly  presents  to  him  a  promissory  note  indorsed, 
"  I  promise  to  subdue  the  South  in  90  days.  Abe  Lincoln." 
A  much  more  t\pical  and  kindh  cartoon  of  Lincoln  is  the  one 
representing  him  as  emulating  the  feat  of  l^londin  and  cross- 
ing the  rapids  of  Niagara  on  a  tight-rope,  bearing  the  negro 
problem  on  his  shouUlers,  and  sustaining  his  equipoise  with 
the  aid  of  a  balancing  pole  labeled  "  Constitution." 

The  really  cle^•er  cartoons  ol  this  period  arc  so  few  in 
numbci-,  ami  stand  out  so  pi-oniinciul\  h-om  a  mass  ot  second- 
rate  material,   that  there  is  real  cianiier  of  attachinij  undue 


I70 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


importance  to  them.  Such  a  plate  as  "  The  Southern  Con- 
federacy a  Fact!  Acknowledged  by  a  Mighty  Prince  and 
Faithful  Ally,"  which  was  issued  by  a  Philadelphia  publisher 
in  1861,  although  crudely  drawn,  is  one  of  the  very  few  that 
show  the  influence  of  the  early  English  school.  It  represents 
the  Devil  and  his  assembled  Cabinet  in  solemn  conclave,  re- 
ceiving the  envoys  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.     The  latter 


includes,  among  others,  Jeff  Davis,  General  Beauregard,  and 
a  personification  of  "  Mr.  Mob  Law,  Chief  Justice."  They 
are  bearers  of  credentials  setting  forth  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  government,  as  "  Treason,  Rebellion,  Murder, 
Robbery,  Incendiarism,  Theft,  etc."  Satan,  interested  in 
spite  of  himself,  is  murmuring  to  his  companions,  "  I  am 
afraid  in  Rascality  they  will  beat  us." 

An  effectixe  allegorical  cartoon,  which  appeared  at  a  time 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


171 


when  the  cause  of  the  Union  seemed  almost  hopeless,  pictures 
Justice  on  the  rock  of  the  Constitution  dressed  in  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  and  waving  an  American  flag  toward  a  happier 
scene,  where  the  sun  of  Universal  Freedom  is  brightly  shin- 
ing. Behind  her  are  hideous  scenes  of  disorder  and  national 
disaster.  A  loathsome  serpent,  of  which  the  head  is  called 
"  Peace    Compromise,"    the    body,    "  Mason    and    Dixon's 


Line,"  and  the  tail  "  Copperhead,"  is  crawling  up  the  rock 
seeking  to  destroy  her.  In  one  of  its  coils  it  is  crushing  out 
the  li\cs  ot  a  number  ot  black  women  aiul  children.  In  one 
corner  ol  the  cai'toon  tlu  figure  ot  a  wmgctl  Satan  is  box  cnng 
gleetnll\  oxer  a  mob  which  is  hanginu;  a  negro  to  a  laniji- 
j^ost — an  allusion  to  tiu'  Dratt  Kiots  in  New  York.  Some  of 
the  mob  are  bearing  banners  with  the  wortis  "  Black  Men 
ha\e  no  Rights."      In  the  shadowy  backgrouiul  of  the  picture 


1/2 


CENTURY   IN  CARICATURE 


a  slaveholder  is  lashing  his  slave,  tied  to  a  post,  with  a  whip 
called  "  Lawful  Stimulant."  An  unctuous  capitalist  is  talk- 
ing with  a  group  of  Secessionists,  seated  on  a  rock  called 
"  State  Rights."  In  contrast  with  the  dark  picture  on  which 
Justice  has  turned  her  back  is  the  bright  vista  of  the  future, 
"  The  L  nion  as  it  will  be,"  into  which  she  is  looking.  There 
we  see  a  broad  river  anci  a  prosperous  city.  A  negress,  free 
and  happy,  is  sewing  by  her  cabin  door,  her  child  reading  a 
book  upon  her  knee. 


lei'    ^. 


'"%. 


■  hlf^ 


CHAPTER   XIX 


THE    four-years'     STRUGGLE 


MANY  of  the  best  cartoons  of  the  period  rev'oh-e 
around  the  rivalry  between  General  McClellan 
and  General  Grant,  and  the  incidents  of  the 
McClellan-Lincoln  campaign  of  1864.  "  The  Old  Bull-dog 
on  the  Right  Track  "  Is  one  of  the  best  products  of  the  war 
cartoonists.  It  represents  Grant  as  a  choroughbred  bull- 
dog, seated  in  dogged  tenacity  of  purpose  on  the  "  Weldon 
Railroad,"  and  preparing  to  fight  it  out  on  that  line,  if  it  takes 
all  summer.  At  the  end  of  the  line  is  a  kennel,  labeled 
"  Richmond,"  and  occupied  by  a  pack  of  lean,  cowardly 
hounds,  Lee,  Davis,  and  Beauregard  among  the  number,  who 
are  yelping:  "  You  aint  got  the  kennel  yet,  old  fellow!  "  A 
bellicose  little  dwarf,  McClellan,  is  advising  the  bulldog's 
master:  "  Uncle  Abraham,  don't  you  think  you  had  better 


call  the  old  dog  oR  now?  I'm  afralil  he'll  hurt  these  other 
dogs,  it  he  catches  hold  of  them!"  To  uhich  President 
Lincoln  serenely  rejoins:  "  Why,  little  Mac,  that's  the  same 
pack  ot  curs  that  chased  \()ii  aboard  of  the  gunboat  two  years 

175 


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CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  177 

ago.  They  are  pretty  nearly  used  up  novv-,  and  I  think  it's 
best  to  go  in  and  finish  them." 

The  conservative  poHcy  which  marked  the  military  career 
of  General  McClcllan  and  his  candidacy  for  the  Presidency 
in  1864  is  ridiculed  in  a  cartoon  entitled  "Little  Mac,  in 
His  Great  Two-Horse  Act,  in  the  Presidential  Canvass  of 
1864."  Here  McClellan  is  pictured  as  a  circus  rider  about 
to  come  to  grief,  owing  to  the  unwillingness  of  his  two  steeds 
to  pull  together  in  harmony.  A  fiery  and  stalwart  horse 
represents  "  war  " ;  while  peace  is  depicted  as  a  worthless  and 
broken-down  hack.  Little  Mac  is  saying,  "  Curse  them  balky 
horses — I  can't  manage  the  Act  nohow.  One  threw  me  in 
Virginia,  and  the  other  is  bound  the  wrong  way."  In  the 
background  is  the  figure  of  Lincoln  attired  as  a  clown.  "  You 
tried  to  ride  them  two  horses  on  the  Peninsula  for  two  years, 
Mac,"  he  calls  out,  "  but  it  wouldn't  work." 

Another  striking  cartoon  of  this  Presidential  campaign 
depicts  the  Republican  leaders  burying  the  War  Democracy. 
The  cartoon  is  called  "  Ihe  Grave  of  the  Union,"  and  was 
drawn  by  Zeke.  The  hearse  is  being  driven  by  Secretary 
Stanton,  who  commenced,  "  My  jackasses  had  a  load,  but 
they  pulled  it  through  bravely."  In  harness  and  attached 
to  the  bodies  of  jackasses  are  the  heads  of  Cochrane,  Butler, 
Meagher,  and  Dickinson.  At  the  head  of  the  gra\"c,  a  sort  of 
master  of  ceremonies,  is  the  familiar  figure  ol  1  lorace  Gree- 
ley, saying,  "  1  guess  we'll  hiir\-  it  so  deep  that  it  will  nc\-cr 
get  up  again."  By  his  side  is  Lincoln,  who  is  inquiring, 
"  Chase,  will  it  stay  tlown  i  "  to  ^^•hich  C  base  replies,  "  My 
God,  it  must  stav  ilown,  or  we  shall  go  up."  The  funeral 
ser\ice  is  being  conducteil  bv  I  K-nr\  Ward  Beecher,  who  is 
carr\ing  a  little  negro  in  Ins  arms.  "  Not  tin  will,  O  Lord, 
but  nunc  be  done."      Beecher  is  readiim  Iroin  the  book  helore 


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CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  179 

him.  The  coffins  about  to  be  lowered  into  the  grave  are 
marked  respectively  "  Free  Speech  and  Free  Press,"  "  Ha- 
beas Corpus,"  and  "  Union." 

One  of  the  most  striking  caricatures  suggested  by  the  con- 
test between  Lincoln  and  McClellan  for  the  Presidency  of 
1864  is  entitled  "  The  Abolition  Catastrophe;  or,  the  Novem- 
ber  Smash-up."      It    is    really   nothing   more   than   the   old 
hackneyed  idea  of  the  "  Presidential  Steeplechase  "  presented 
in  a  new  guise.      The  artist,  however,  proved  himself  to  be  a 
false  prophet.      It  shows  a  race  to  the  White  House  between 
two  trains,  in  which  the  one  on  which  Lincoln  is  serving  as 
engineer  has  just  come  to  destruction  on  the  rocks  of  "  Eman- 
cipation,"  "  Confiscation,"   and  "  $400,ooaooo,ooo   Public 
Debt."      The  train  in  the  charge  of  General  McClellan,  its 
locomoti\e  Hying  the  Rag  "  Constitution,"  is  running  along 
smoothly  and  rapidly  and  is  just  turning  the  curve  leading  up 
to  the  door  of  the  White  House.    McClellan,  watching  from 
his  cab  the  discomfiture  of  his  foe,  calls  derisively,  "  Wouldn't 
you  like  to  swap  horses  now,   Lincoln?"      In  the  coaches 
behind  are  the  elated  passengers  of  the  Democratic  train. 
In  striking  contrast  is  the  plight  in  which  the   Republican 
Party  is  shown.      Lincoln,  thrown  up  in  the  air  by  the  shock 
of  the  collision,  calls  back  to  his  ri\  al,  "  Don't  mention  it, 
Mac,  this  reminds  me  of  a  " — an  allusion  to  the  President's 
fondness  for  illustrating  c\-cr\'  argument  with  a  story.      From 
the  debris  ot  the  wreck  ot  the  locomotiNc  jK'cr  out  the  taces 
of  the   firemen — two   \er\    black   negroes.     (  )nc    is   calling, 
"War's  de  rest  ob  dis  ole  elark\  ?     Dis  wot  }er  call  'inanc- 
pation?"      And  the  other.   "Lor'   A'mighty!      Massa    Lin- 
cum,  is  dis  wot  yer  call  Flewatmg  de  Xigger?"       I  he  pas- 
sengers behind  are  in  an  e(|uall\   uiihapp\   strait.      Secretary 
Stanton,  pinned  under  tiie  wheels  ot  the  first  coach,  is  er\ing, 


i8o 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


"  Oh,  dear!  If  I  could  telegraph  this  to  Dix  I'd  make  it  out 
a  victory."  Among  the  passengers  may  be  recognized  the 
countenances  of  Beecher,  Butler,  and  Seward,  while  blown  up 


~-7«>pN"  '  i*ojm4 


OR    MAJOR    jACI--    on*'.  •■ 


From  the  collection  oj  the  Sciu  \  orii  Historical  Society. 

in  the  air  is  Horace  Greeley,  calling  out  to  Uincoln  that  the 
disaster  only  verifies  the  prediction  which  hail  been  printed 
in  the  Tr'ibiDic.  Popular  discontent  at  the  unrellabilitv  of 
news  of  the  war  found  utterance  in  a  skit  representing  Lincoln 
as  a  bartender  occupied  in  concocting  a  mixed  drink,  called 
"  New  York  Press,"  which  he  is  dexterously  pouring  back  and 
forth  between  two  tumblers,  labeled  respectively  "  Victory  " 
and  ''  Defeat."  The  ingredients  are  taken  from  bottles  of 
"  Bunkum,"  "  Bosh,"  "  Brag,"  and  "  Soft  Sawder." 


•^ 


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I82 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


^ntvoii  af*i^t  tht  "Jitparfmrnf  "    \  We.^^- 
Amr*  i^utfkt  and /i'ltfii  i^  fht*  ttui^~ 
MtActnt  vf^sti.  OK  purpe€e   fo 


I  «>//  \/,ij. ,„,,/: 


THE  BLOCKADE  OIN  THE  "CONNECT!  CUT  PLAN" 


From  the  collection  of  (he  Xeiu  York  Historical  Society. 


In  the  same  series  as  the  "  Abolition  Catastrophe  "  is  a 
cartoon  entitled  "  Miscegenation;  or,  the  Millennium  of  Abo- 
lition," intended  to  depict  the  possible  alarming  consequences 
of  proclaiming  the  whole  colored  race  free  and  equal.  It 
humorously  depicts  a  scene  in  which  there  is  absolute  social 
equality  between  the  whites  and  the  blacks.  At  one  end  of  the 
picture  Mr.  I.incoln  is  receiving  with  great  warmth  and 
cordiality  Miss  Dinah  Arabella  Aramintha  Squash,  a  negress 
of  unprepossessing  appearance,  who  has  as  her  escort  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  At  a  table  nearby  Horace  Greeley  is  treating 
another  gorgeously  attired  negress  to  ice  cream.  Two  re- 
pulsive-looking negroes  are  making  violent  love  to  two  white 
women.  A  passing  carriage  in  charge  of  a  white  coachman 
and  two  white  footmen  contains  a  negro  family.    In  the  back- 


^ 


i84 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


ground,  Englishmen,  Frenchmen,  and  others  are  expressing 
their  astonishment  at  the  condition  in  which  they  find 
American  society. 

The  attempt  at  escape,  the  apprehension  and  the  incarcera- 
tion of  the  President  of  the  Confederacy  are  illustrated  in  a 
long  series  of  cartoons.  Two  of  the  best  are  "  The  Con- 
federacy   in    Petticoats  "    and    "  Uncle    Sam's    Menagerie." 


From  the  collection  of  the  Neiv  York  Historical  Society. 

The.  first  deals  with  the  capture  of  Jefferson  Davis  at  Irwins- 
ville  by  General  Wilson's  cavalry.  Davis,  attired  in  feminine 
dress,  is  climbing  over  a  fence  in  order  to  escape  his  pursuers. 
He  has  dropped  his  handbag,  but  he  still  holds  his  un- 
sheathed knife.  "  I  thought  your  government  was  too 
magnanimous  to  hunt  down  women  and  children,"  he  calls 
out  to  the  Union  soldiers,  one  of  whom  has  caught  him  by  the 
skirts  and  is  trying  to  drag  him  back.      Mrs.  Davis,  by  her 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


l8: 


husband's  side,  is  entreating,  "  Don't  irritate  the  President. 
He  might  hurt  somebody." 

The  cartoon  "Uncle  Sam's  Menagerie"  shows  Davis  in 
captivity  at  Fortress  Monroe.  The  Confederate  president 
is  depicted  as  a  hyena  in  a  cage,  playing  with  a  human  skull. 
An  Uncle  Sam  of  the  smooth-faced  type  in  which  he  at  first 
appeared  is  the  showman.      Round  Davis's  neck  is  a  noose 


-.:..■   oxvlVi  o    .Lvj  J  J  MAC- E I? IE 


prom  the  collection  of  the  Xdi'  Yorh  Historical  Society. 

connecting  with  a  huge  gallows  and  the  rope  is  about  to  be 
(.Irawn  taut,  while  from  an  organ  below  tbc  cage  a  ir.usician 
is  grinding  our  the  strain,  "  "I'ankce  Doodle."  In  tbc  shape 
of  birds  perched  on  little  gallows  of  tlieir  own  ab()\e  the 
President's  cage,  each  w  ith  a  noose  aromul  his  neck,  are  the 
figures  of  the  other  leaders  of  the  Confeticracv.  A  ci-ow  is 
pecking  at  a  grinning  skull  uinler  which  is  written  "  Booth." 


i86  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

To  this  skull  Uncle  Sam  is  playfully  pointing  with  his  show- 
man's cane. 

Alleged  Republican  intimidation  at  the  poles  in  the  election 
of  1864  is  assailed  in  a  cartoon  representing  a  Union  soldier 
about  to  cast  his  vote  for  iVIcClellan.  A  thick-lipped  negro 
stands  guard  over  the  ballot  box,  rille  in  hand.  He  presents 
the  point  of  the  bayonet  at  the  soldier's  decorated  breast. 
"  Hallo,  dar !  "  he  calls  out  threateningly,  "  you  can't  put  in 


fjut  t^'  -^ac  r-"'  '■•■:'■-'■ 


/{oy/  F/?££  s^/ia^r/s  p/(Or£cr£D/ 


From  I  lie  collection  oj  the  Xeiu  York  Historical  Society. 


dat,  you  copper-head  traitor,  nor  any  odder,  'cept  for  Massa 
Lincoln."  To  which  the  soldier  sadly  replies,  "  I  am  an 
American  citizen  and  did  not  think  I  had  fought  and  bled 
for  this.  Alas,  my  country!  "  A  corrupt  election  clerk  is 
regarding  the  scene  with  disquiet.  "  I'm  afraid  we  shall 
have  trouble  if  that  soldier  is  not  allowed  to  vote,"  he  says. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


187 


To  which  a  companion  cynically  replies,  "  Gammon  him,  just 
turn  round;  you  must  pretend  you  see  nothing  of  the  kind 
going  on,  and  keep  on  co-unting  vour  votes." 


THE    NATION    MOURN  INC    AT    LINCOLN'S     BIER. 

By  Tenniel  in   "  I'uncli."' 


CHAPTER    XX 

NAIIONS    AND    MEN    IN    CARICATURE 

IN  looking  over  the  historical  and  political  caricature  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  one  very  naturally  finds  several 
different  methods  of  treatment  and  subdivision  suggest- 
ing themselves.  First,  there  is  the  obvious  method  of 
chronological  order,  which  is  being  followed  in  the  present 
volume,  and  which  commended  itself  as  being  at  once  the 
simplest  and  the  most  comprehensive.  It  is  the  one  method 
by  which  the  history  of  the  century  may  be  regarded  as  the 
annals  of  a  family  of  nations — a  grotesque  family  of  ill- 
assorted  quadrupeds  anci  still  more  curious  bipeds,  stepping 
forth  two  by  two  from  the  pages  of  comic  art  as  from  the 
threshold  of  some  modern  Noah's  ark — Britannia  and  the 
British  lion,  Columbia  and  Uncle  Sam,  India  and  the  Bengal 
tiger,  French  Liberty  and  the  imperial  eagle.  It  is  the  one 
method  which  focuses  the  attention  upon  the  inter-relation, 
the  significant  groupings  of  these  symbolic  figures,  and  dis- 
regards their  individual  and  isolated  actions.  What  the 
Russian  bear,  the  British  lion,  are  doing  in  the  seclusion  of 
their  respective  fastnesses  is  of  vastly  less  interest  than  the 
spectacle  of  the  entire  royal  menagerie  of  Europe  uniting  in 
an  effort  to  hold  Napoleon  at  bay.  In  other  words,  this 
method  enables  us  to  pass  lightly  over  questions  of  purely 
national  interest  and  home  policy — the  Corn  Laws  of  Eng- 
land, the  tariff  issues  in  the  United  States — and  to  keep  the  eye 
centered  upon  the  really  big  dramas  of  history,  played  upon 
an  international  stage.      It  subordinates  caricature  itself  to 

i88 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


189 


the  sequence  of  great  events  and  great  personages.  It  is  the 
Emperor  Napoleon,  his  reign  and  his  wars,  and  not  the 
Enghsh  caricaturist  Gillray;  it  is  Louis  Phihppe,  the  bour- 
geois king,  and  not  Phihpon  and  Daumier,  who  form  the 
center  of  interest.  In  other  words,  from  the  present  point 
of  view,  the  caricature  itself  is  not  so  much  the  object  looked 
at  as  it  is  a  powerful  and  clairvoyant  lens  through  which  we 
may  behold  past  history  in  the  curiously  distorted  form  in 
which  it  was  mirrored  back  by  contemporary  public  opinion. 

Other  methods,  however,  might  be  used  effectively,  each 
offering  some  special  advantage  of  its  own.  For  instance, 
the  whole  history  of  the  nineteenth  century  might  be  divided, 


FKIUKKS    FKOM    A      lUHMIIl. 


190 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


so  to  speak,  geographically.  Fhe  separate  history  of  each 
nation  might  have  been  followed  down  in  turn — the  chang- 
ing fortunes  of  England,  typified  by  John  Bull;  of  Russia 
in  the  guise  of  the  bear;  of  the  United  States  under  the  forms 
of  the  swarthy,  smooth-faced  Jonathan  of  early  days,  and  the 
pleasanter  Uncle  Sam  of  recent  years;  and  of  France,  typified 
at  different  times  as  an  eagle,  as  a  Gallic  cock,  as  an  angry 
goddess,  and  as  a  plump,  pleasant-faced  woman  in  a  tri- 
colored  petticoat.      Again,  if  it  were  desirable  to  emphasize 


THE     DIAGNOSIS. 


"  A  bad  regime  during  ten  years  All  your 
trouble  comes  from  that.  You  will  soon  be- 
come convalescent  with  a  good  constitution 
and  fewer  leeches." 


the  development  of  comic  art  rather  than  its  influence  in 
history,  one  might  group  the  separate  dixisions  of  the  subject 
around  certain  schools  of  caricature,  dealing  first  with  Gill- 
ray,   Rowlandson,  and  their  fellows  among  the  allied  Con- 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


191 


tinental  nations;  passing  thence  to  the  caricaturists  of  1830, 
and   thence   carrying   the   sequence   through   Leech,    Cham, 


THE    E(;EREAN    NYMl'll. 
By  Daiii?iU'!'. 


Icnniel,  Nast,  down  to  the  caricaturists  who  In  the  closing 
years  of  the  century  developed  the  scope  of  caricature  to  a 
hitherto  unparalleled  extent.  Still  again,  the  history  of  the 
century  in  caricature  might  be  traced  along  from  some 
peculiarity  grcatl\-  exaggerated,  of  sonic  great  man  to  an- 
other personal  peculiarit\  of  some  other  great  man;  leaping 
from  the  tn-cornc'red  hat  ot  the  I'.iiiperor  Xapolcon  to  the 
great  nose  ot  the  lion  Duke,  then  on  to  the  toiipet  aiul  pear- 
shapetl  countenance  ot  I.ouis  lMiilip})e,  the  emaciation  of 
Abraham   Lincoln,   the  grandpa's  hat  ot    the    1  larrison   ad- 


192 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


ministration,  the  forehead  curl  of  Disraeli,  the  collar  of 
Gladstone,  the  turned-up  moustaches  of  the  Emperor 
^Yilliam,  and  the  prominent  teeth  of  Mr.  Roosevelt.  This 
feature  of  the  caricature  seems  important  enough  to  justify 
a  brief  digression.  It  forms  one  of  the  foundation  stones 
of  the  art,  second  only  in  importance  to  the  conv^entionalized 
symbols  of  the  different  nations.  From  the  latter  the  car- 
toonist builds  up  the  century's  history  as  recorded  in  its  great 
events.  From  the  former  he  traces  that  history  as  recorded 
in  the  personality  of  its  great  men. 

The  cartoons  in  which  these  different  peculiarities  of  per- 


I'ALL    AM)    NIKCIMA. 


By  Gill. 


sonal  appearance  are  emphasized  cover  the  whole  range  of 
caricature,  and  the  whole  gamut  of  public  opinion  which  in- 
spired it.     Here  we  may  find  every  degree  of  malice,  from 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


193 


the  fierce  goggle  eyes  and  diabolical  expression  which  Gill- 
ray  introduced  into  his  portraits  of  the  hated  Bonaparte  down 
to  the  harmless  exaggeration  of  the  collar  points  by  which 
Furniss  good-naturedly  satirized  the  appearance  of  Mr. 
Gladstone.  Again,  in  this  respect  caricature  varies  much, 
because  all  the  great  men  of  the  century  did  not  offer  to  the 
caricaturists  the  same  opportunities  in  the  matter  of  unusual 
features  or  personal  eccentricities. 

The  authentic  portraits  and  contemporary  descriptions  of 
the  first  Napoleon  show  us  that  he  was  a  man  whose  appear- 
ance was  marred  by  no  particular  eccentricity  of  feature,  and 


THK    riRST    CONSCRII'T   OK    I'KANCE. 

Fv  Gill. 


that  the  cartoons  of  which  he  is  the  principal  subject  are 
largely  allegorical,  or  inspired  In  the  artist's  intensity  of 
hatred.  One  (jerman  caricaturist,  by  a  subtle  distortion  and 
a  lengthening  ot  the  cheeks  aiui  chin,   iiiti-oduced  a  resem- 


194  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

blaiice  to  a  rapacious  wolf  while  preserving  something  of  the 
real  likeness.     But  in  the  goggle-eyed  monsters  of  Gillray 
there  is  nothing  save  the  hat  and  the  uniform  which  suggests 
the  real  Napoleon.     It  was  a  sort  of  incarnation  of  Beelze- 
bub which  Gillray  wished  to  draw  and  did  draw,   a  mon- 
strosity  designed  to   rouse   the   superstitious  hatred   of  the 
ignorant  and  lower  classes  of  England,  and  to  excite  the  na- 
tion to  a  warlike   frenzy.     The  caricature  aimed  at  Bona- 
parte's  great   rival,    the   conqueror  of  Waterloo,    was   pro- 
duced  in  more   peaceful   times,   was   the  work  of  his   own 
countryman,    was  based   mainly   on-  party   differences,    and, 
naturally    enough,    it    was    in    the    main    good-natured    and 
kindly.    Wellington  in  caricature  may  be  summed  up  by  say- 
ing  that  it  was  all  simply  an  exaggeration  of  the  size  of  his 
nose.     The  poire  drawn  into  resemblance  of  the  countenance 
of  Louis  Philippe  was  originally  innocent  enough,  and  had 
it  been  entirely  ignored  by  the  monarch  and  his  ministers, 
would  probably  have  had  no  political  effect,  and  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years  been  entirely  forgotten.     But  being  taken  seri- 
ously and  characterized  as  seditious,  it  acquired  an  exagger- 
ated significance  which  may  almost  be  said  to  have  led  to  the 
revolution  of  1848  and  the  establishment  of  the  Second  Re- 
public.    From  the  rich  material  offered  by  our  War  of  Seces- 
sion the  caricaturists  drew  little  more  than  the  long,  gaunt 
figure  and  the  scraggy  beard  of  Lincoln,  and  the  cigar  of 
General  Grant.    The  possibilities  of  this  cigar,  as  they  prob- 
ably would  have  been  brought  out  by  an  artist  like  Daumier, 
have  been  suggested  in  an  earlier  chapter.    It  was  the  goatee  of 
Louis  Napoleon  that  was  exaggerated  to  give  a  point  to  most 
of  the  cartoons  in  which  he  was  a  figure,  although  during  the 
days   of  his  power  there  v/ere   countless   caricatures   which 
drew  suggestions  from  the  misadventures  of  his  early  life, 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


195 


his  alleged  experiences  as  a  waiter  in  New  York  and  a  police- 
man in  London,  his  escape  from  prison  in  the  clothes  of  the 
workman  Badinguet  (a  name  which  his  political  enemies  ap- 


THE    SITUATION. 
By  Gill. 


plied  to  him  very  freely),  and  the  fiasco  at  Strasburg.  No 
men  of  their  time  were  more  freely  caricatured  than  Disraeli 
in  England  and  Thiers  in  Erance,  for  no  men  offered  more  to 
the  caricaturist,  Disraeli  being  at  once  a  Jew  and  the  most 
exquisite  of  affected  daiulics,  and  1  hicrs  being,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Louis  Blanc,  the  smallest  man  of  note  in  France. 
In  one  cartoon  in  /*//;/(//,  Disraeli  \\as  figured  as  presiding 
o\'er  "  Fagm's  Political  School."  In  another  he  was  repre- 
sented as  a  hideous  Oriental  jieri  lUittering  about  the  gates 
of  Paradise.  Thiers's  large  head  and  diminuti\e  stature 
are  subjects  ot  countless  cartoons,  in  which  he  is  shown 
emerging    troni    a    wineglass    or    concealed    in    a    waistcoat 


196  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

pocket,    although  Punch  once  humorously  depicted  him   as 
Gulliver  bound  down  by  the  Lilliputians. 

If  one  were  to  attempt  to  draw  a  broad  general  distinction 
between  French  and  English  caricature  throughout  the  cen- 
tury, it  would  be  along  the  line  of  English  superiority  in  the 
matter  of  satirizing  great  events,  French  superiority  in  sat- 
irizing great  men.  The  English  cartoonists  triumphed  in 
the  art  of  crowded  canvases  and  effective  groupings;  the 
French  in  seizing  upon  the  salient  feature  of  face  or  form, 
and  by  a  grotesque  distortion,  a  malicious  quirk,  fixing  upon 
their  luckless  subject  a  brand  of  ridicule  that  refused  to  be 
forgotten.  Although  the  fashion  of  embodying  fairly  rec- 
ognizable portraits  of  prominent  statesmen  in  caricatures 
became  general  in  England  early  in  the  century,  for  a  long 
time  the  effect  was  marred  by  their  lack  of  facial  expression. 
From  situations  of  all  sorts,  ranging  from  high  comedy  to 
deadly  peril  and  poignant  suffering,  the  familiar  features 
of  British  statesmen  look  forth  placid,  unconcerned,  with 
the  fixed,  impersonal  stare  of  puppets  in  a  Punch-and-Judy 
show.  No  French  artist  ever  threw  away  his  opportunities 
in  such  a  foolish,  spendthrift  manner.  Even  where  the 
smooth,  regular  features  of  some  especially  characterless 
face  gave  little  or  nothing  for  a  satiric  pencil  to  seize  upon, 
a  Daumier  or  a  Gill  would  manufacture  a  ludicrous  effect 
through  the  familiar  device  of  a  giant's  head  on  a  dwarf's 
body,  or  the  absurdly  distorted  reflection  of  a  cylindrical 
mirror.  But  by  the  time  hostilities  broke  out  between  France 
and  Prussia  facial  caricature  had  become  an  important  factor 
in  the  British  school  of  satire,  as  exemplified  in  the  weekly 
pages  of  Punch. 


CHAPTER    XXI 

THE    OUTBREAK    OF    THE    FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR 

THIS  was  very  natural,  because  the  history  of  these 
years  was  largely  a  history  of  individuals.  Dur- 
ing the  years  between  the  close  of  the  Civil  War 
and  the  outbreak  of  war  between  France  and  Prussia  the 
three  dominant  figures  in  European  political  caricature  were 
the  French  Emperor,  Prince  Bismarck,  and  Benjamin  Dis- 


I.OIIS    Hl.ANC. 


raeli.  Since  1848,  Louis  Napoleon  had  been  the  most  wlilelv 
caricatured  man  in  I'.iirojic;  and  the  outcome  of  the  War  ot 
1866  had  raised  Bismarck,  as  the  [lilot  ot  the  Prussian  ship 

197 


198 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


of  state,  to  an  importance  second  only  to  Napoleon  himself. 
The  caricature  of  which  Disraeli  was  the  subject  was  nec- 
essarily much  narrower  in  its  scope,  and  confined  to  a  great 
extent  to  England,     It  was  not  until  the  century's  eighth 


RIVAL   ARBITERS. 


Napoleon  and  Bismarck  at  the  time  of  the 
Austro-Prussian  War. 

By  Teniiiel in  Puncli. 

decade  that  he  received  full  recognition  at  the  hands  of  the 
Continental  caricaturists,  and  his  prominence  in  the  cartoons 
preceding  the  Franco-Prussian  War  was  due  to  the  prestige 
of  Punch,  and  to  the  opportunity  which  his  own  peculiar 
personality  and  striking  appearance  offered  to  the  carica- 
turists. It  was  not  long  after  the  fall  of  Richmond  and  the 
end  of  the  war  that  the  agitation  over  the  claims  of  the 
United  States  against  England  on  account  of  the  damage 
done  by  the  warship  Alabama,  a  question  which  was  not 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


199 


settled  until  a  number  of  years  later,  began.  The  two  powers 
for  a  time  could  not  agree  on  any  scheme  of  arbitration,  and 
the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  autumn  of  1865  Was  summed 
up  by  Tenniel  in  Punch,  in  a  cartoon  entitled  "  The  Disputed 
Account,"  in  which  the  United  States  and  England  are  rep- 
resented as  two  haggling  women  and  Madame  Britannia  is 
haughtily  saying:  "Claim  for  damages  against  me?  Non- 
sense, Columbia !  Don't  be  mean  over  money  matters." 
But  England,  as  well  as  America,  had  other  matters  besides 
the  Alabama  claims  to   disturb  her  and  to  keep  busy  the 


-::> 


TIIK    MAN    WHO    I.AICIIS. 
A'v  .tiidrr  Ciill- 


pencils  of  her  cartoonists.  Besides  pui\'K  political  issues  at 
home,  there  were  the  laiiKuea  troubles  ami  !■  eniaiusiii :  aiul 
the  I*  reiuli  l.mperor  was  \er\  urgent  that  stronger  extradi- 
tion tre.ities  shouKl  he  estahlisheil  between  the  two  countries. 


200  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

This  last  issue  was  cleverly  hit  off  by  Punch  in  a  cartoon 
which  pictures  Britannia  showing  Napoleon  the  Third  a 
portrait  of  himself  as  he  appeared  in  1848  and  saying: 
"  That,  Sire,  is  the  portrait  of  a  gentleman  whom  I  should 
have  had  to  give  up  to  the  French  Government  had  I  always 
translated    '  extradition '    as    your    Majesty's    lawyers   now 


THE    MAN    WHO    THINKS. 
By  Andre  Gill. 


wish."  The  agitation  over  the  Jamaica  troubles  died  out, 
the  threatened  Fenian  invasion  of  Canada  came  to  nothing, 
Louis  Napoleon  withdrew  the  French  troops  from  Mexico, 
and  the  eyes  of  Europe  were  directed  toward  the  war  cloud 
hovering  over  Prussia  and  Austria.  Early  in  June,  1866, 
there  w^as  a   cessation  of  diplomatic  relations  between  the 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


201 


two  countries,  followed  immediately  by  a  declaration  of  war 
on  the  part  of  Prussia,  whose  armies  straightway  entered 
Saxony  and  Hanover.  The  attitude  of  England  and  FVance 
toward  the  belligerents  was  the  subject  of  Punch's  cartoon 
that  week.  It  was  called  "  Honesty  and  Policy,"  and  shows 
Britannia  and  Napoleon  discussing  the  situation,  while  in  the 
background  the  Prussian  King  and  the  Austrian  Emperor 
are  shaking  their  tists  in  each  other's  faces.     Britannia  con- 


"    lO    1;K    <iK    NO  r     To    liE." 

/.'v  6'///. 


fides  regretfully  to  Napoleon:  "Well,  I've  done  my  best. 
If  they  must  smash  each  other,  they  must."  And  the  French 
Emperor  says  in  a  gleelul  aside:  "  And  someone  may  pick 
u)")  the  jiieccs!"  The  same  figure  (if  speech  is  further  de- 
velopetl  in  a  later  cartoon  which  appeared  in  August,  during 
the  negotiations  for  jieace.  Nafiok'on  III.,  in  the  guise  of 
a   ragpicker,    is   being  wanictl   ott    the    Konigstrasse  by   Bis- 


202 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


marck:  "Pardon,  mon  ami,  but  we  really  can't  allow  you 
to  pick  up  anything  here;"  and  "Nap.  the  Chiffonnier  " 
rejoins:  "Pray,  don't  mention  it,  M'sieu!  It's  not  of  the 
slightest  consequence." 

After  the  battle  of  Sadowa,  Austria  accepted  readily  the 
offer  of  the  French  Emperor  to  bring  about  a  suspension  of 
hostilities,  the  Emperor  of  Austria  agreeing  to  cede  Venetia, 
which  was  handed  over  to  France,  as  a  preliminary  to  its 
cession  to  Italy.     Tenniel  pictured  this  event  in  a  cartoon 


ACHILLES    L\    RETREAT. 
By  Gill. 


showing  Napoleon  acting  as  the  temporary  keeper  of  the 
Lion  of  St.  Mark's.  Bismarck  was  now  becoming  a  conspicu- 
ous figure  in  European  politics,  and  his  rivalry  to  Napoleon 
is  shown  in  a  Punch  cartoon  entitled  "  Rival  Arbiters,"  which 
appeared  about  this  time. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


203 


The  growing  spirit  of  discontent  in  France  during  the 
year  or  two  immediately  preceding  the  Franco-Prussian  War 
was  made  the  subject  of  some  excellent  Punch  cartoons.  One 
of  these,  called  "  Easing  the  Curb,"  appeared  in  July,  1869. 
The  imperial  rule  was  gradually  becoming  unpopular,  and 
the  opposition  gaining  in  strength  and  boldness.     The  Em- 


THK    I'RKSIDENT    <)K    KllOUKS. 
Bv  Dauinier. 


peror  found  it  prudent  to  announce  that  it  was  his  Intention  to 
grant  to  the  I-rench  Chamber  a  considerable  extension  ot 
jiower.  In  "  i'.asing  the  Cui-b,"  PiduIi  licpicts  I-'rance  as  a 
horse  dra\\ing  the  inipcrin!  carnau;e.  Within  arc  the 
Empress  ami  the  PriiKc  imperial.  e\  uleiitK   ^reatK   alarmed. 


204 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


Napoleon  Is  standing  at  the  horse's  head,  calling  out:  "  Have 
no  fear,  my  dears.  I  shall  just  drop  ze  curb  a  leetel."  In 
another  cartoon  a  few  months  later.  Napoleon  the  Third  is 
shown  wearing  the  crown  of  King  John,  and  surrounded  by 


A    TEMl'EST    IN    A    GLASS    OF    WATER. 
By  Gill. 

a  group  of  persistent  barons,  signing  a  magna  charta   for 
France. 

In  the  pages  of  Punch  from  July,  1870,  until  the  spring  of 
I  87 1,  one  may  follow  very  closely  the  history  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War  and  of  the  Commune.  The  first  of  the  car- 
toons on  this  subject,  published  just  before  the  declaration  of 
war,  is  entitled  "  A  Duel  to  the  Death."  In  it  the  King  of 
Prussia  and  the  French  Emperor  are  shown  as  duellists, 
sword  in  hand,  while  Britannia  is  endeavoring  to  act  as  medi- 
ator.    "  Pray  stand  back,  madam,"  says  Napoleon.     "  You 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


205 


mean  well,  but  this  is  an  old  family  quarrel  and  we  must  fight 
it  out."  Punch  seemed  to  have  an  early  premonition  of 
what  the  result  of  the  war  would  be,  for,  before  any  decisive 
battle  had  been  fought,  it  published  a  striking  cartoon  en- 
titled "  A  Vision  on  the  Way,"  r.epresenting  the  shade  of  the 
great  Napoleon  confronting  the  Emperor  and  his  son  on  the 
warpath,  and  bidding  them  "  Beware!  "     The  departure  of 


A    DIEI.    T(J    THE    DEATH. 

By  It'll  II  If/  I'n  ''Punch." 


the  I'rincc  Imperial  to  the  front  is  made  the  subject  of  a  very 
pretty  and  pathetic  cartoon  called  "  Iwo  Mothers."  It  shows 
the  Empress  bidding  farewell  to  her  son,  while  Erancc,  as 
another  weeping  mother,  is  saving:  "Ah,  madam,  a  sure 
happiness  lor  you,  soonei"  oi-  latei" ;  hut  there  w  ere  dear  sons  of 
mine  whom  I  shall  ne\  er  see  aiiain." 


CHAPTER  XXII 


THE     DEBACLE 


j^FTER    the    unimportant    engagement    at    Saarbriick 

/  ^       disaster  began  falling  thick  and  fast  on  the  French 

/       ^     arms,  and  soon  we  find  Punch  taking  up  again  the 

idea  of  the  two  monarchs  as  rival  duelists.      By  this  time  the 

duel  has  been  decided.    Louis  Napoleon,  sorely  wounded  and 


FRANCK,   SEPTEMBER    4,    187O. 

"  Atix  amies,  citoyens, 
Formez  vos  bataillons." 

with  broken  sword,  is  leaning  against  a  tree.     "  You  have 

fought  gallantly,  sir,"  says  the  King.     "  May  I  not  hear  you 

say  you  have  had  enough  ?  "    To  which  the  Emperor  replies : 

206 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


207 


"  I  have  been  deceived  about  my  strength.  I  have  no  choice." 
With  Sedan,  the  downfall  of  the  Empire,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Republic,  France  ceased  to  be  typified  under  the 
form  of  Louis  Napoleon.  Henceforth  she  became  an  angry, 
blazing-eyed  woman,  calling  upon  her  sons  to  rise  and  repel 
the  advance  of  the  invader.  The  cartoon  in  PuucJi  commemo- 
rating September  4,  1870,  when  the  Emperor  was  formally 
deposed  and  a  Provisional  Government  of  National  Defense 
established  under  the  Presidency  of  General  Trochu,  with 


IlKK     IIAI'IIS.M    Ol'    IlkK. 
/>'v  'reiniit-l  i)i  ''  J'loic/i." 


Gambetta,  P;urc,  and  julcs  Icn-\-  among  its  leading  mem- 
bers, shows  her  standing  erect  In  the  side  of  a  cannon,  the 
imperial  insignia  trampled  hciicath  lur  feet,  waxing  aloft  the 
flag  of  the  Rciiuhlic,  and  slioutlng  Iroiii  the  "  Marseillaise": 


"  Atix  aniK's,  (.•iloyens, 
Formcz  vos  bataillons!  " 


208 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


The  announcement  that  the  German  royal  headquarters 
was  to  be  removed  to  Versailles,  and  that  the  palace  of  Louis 
XIV.  was  to  shelter  the  Prussian  King  surrounded  by  his 
conquering  armies,  drew  from  Tenniel  the  cartoon  in  which 
he  showed  the  German  monarch  seated  at  his  table  in  the 
palace  studying  the  map  of  Paris,  while  in  the  background  are 
the  ghosts  of  Louis  XIV.   and  the  great  Napoleon.     The 


ANDRE    (;U,L. 


ghost  of  the  Grand  Monarque  is  asking  sadly:  "  Is  this  the 
end  of  '  all  the  glories'?"  The  sufferings  of  Paris  during 
the  siege  are  summed  up  in  a  cartoon  entitled  "  Germany's 
Ally,"  in  which  the  figure  of  Famine  is  laying  its  cold,  gaunt 
hand  on  the  head  of  the  unhappy  woman  typifying  the 
stricken  city.  The  beginning  of  the  bombardment  was  com- 
memorated in  a  cartoon  entitled  "  Her  Baptism  of  Fire," 
showing  the  grim  and  bloody  results  of  the  falling  of  the 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


209 


LE    MARQUIS    AUX    TALONS    ROUGES. 

By  Willette. 

The  Marquis  de  Galliffet  will  be  remembered 
as  the  French  Minister  of  War  during  the  sec- 
ond Dreyfus  trial.  It  was  Willette's  famous 
cartoon  of  Queen  Victoria  which  stirred  up  so 
much  ill  feeling  during  the  Boer  War. 

first  shells.  The  whole  tone  of  Punch  after  the  downfall  of 
the  Emperor  shows  a  growino  sympathy  on  the  part  of  the 
English  people  toward  I'rancc,  and  the  feeling  in  England 
that  Germany,  gtiided  by  the  iron  hand  of  Bismarck,  was 
exacting  a  cruel  and  unjust  penalty  entirely  out  ol  proportion. 
This  belief  that  the  terms  demandeil  by  tbe  (iermans  were 
harsh  and  excessive  is  shown  in  the  Piiih  h  cartoon  "  Excessive 
Bail,"  where  Justice,  after  lIsteiiiiiLi;  to  Bismarck's  argument, 


2IO 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


savs   that   she   cannot    "  sanction    a    demand    for   exorbitant 
securities." 

French  caricature  during  ''  the  terrible  year  "  which  saw 
Gravelotte,  Sedan,  and  the  downfall  of  the  Empire  was 
necessarily  somber  and  utterly  lacking  in  French  gayety.  It 
was  not  until  the  tragic  days  of  the  Siege  and  the  Commune 
that  the   former  strict  censorship  of  the   French  press  was 


tvAA'^ 


r 


TIIK    HISTORY    OF    A    KKIlJN. 

By  Daiimier  in  "  Charivari." 


"  THIS    HAS    K.1I.I.K1)     rilAl. 
/)'v  IKinmicr  in  "  C'/nirnurt." 


212 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


L. 


O 


THE    MOUSE-TRAP    AND    ITS    VICTIMS. 
By  Daiimier  in  •'  Charivari.'" 


relaxed,  and  the  floodgates  were  suddenly  opened  for  a  veri- 
table inundation  of  cartoons.  M.  Armand  Dayot,  in  his 
admirable  pictorial  history  of  this  epoch,  which  has  already 
been  frequently  cited  in  the  present  volume,  says  in  this  con- 
nection:    "  It  has  been  said  with  infinite  justice  that  when  art 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  213 

is  absent  from  caricature  nothing  remains  but  vulgarity."  In 
proof  of  this,  one  needs  only  to  glance  through  the  albums 
containing  the  countless  cartoons  that  appeared  during  the 
Siege,  and  more  especially  during  the  Commune.  Aside  from 
those  signed  by  Daumier,  Cham,  Andre  Gill,  and  a  few  other 
less  famous  artists,   they  are  unclean  compositions,   without 


PRUSSIA    ANNEXES   AI.SACE. 
Bv  Cham  in  "  C/iarivari." 


design  or  wit,  odious  in  color,  the  gross  stupidity  of  their 
legends  riv^aling  their  lamentable  poverty  of  execution.  But 
under  the  leadership  ot  Daumier,  the  small  group  of  artists 
who  infused  their  genius  into  the  weekly  pages  of  Chcirivdri, 
made  these  tragic  months  one  of  the  famous  periods  in  the 
annals  of  French  caricature.  Ot  the  earlier  generation,  the 
irrepressible  group  whose  mordant  irony  had  hastencil  the 
downfall  ot  Louis  Philippe,  Daumier  alone  sur\i\'ed  to 
chronicle  by  his  pencil  the  disasters  which  betell  !■  ranee,  w  1th 


214 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


a  talent  as  great  as  he  had  possessed  thirty-odd  years  before, 
when  engaged  in  his  hght-hearted  and  maHcious  campaign 
against  the  august  person  of  Louis  Phihppe.     Then  there 


"  Oh,  no  !     Prussia  has  not  completely  slain 
her.     It  is  not  yet  time  to  go  to  her  aid." 

By  Cham  hi  "  Charivari.''' 

were  the  illustrious  "  Cham  "  (Comte  de  Noe),  and  Andre 
Gill  (a  caricaturist  of  striking  wit),  Hadol,  De  Bertall,  De 
Pilopel,  Faustin,  Draner,  and  a  number  of  others  not  so  well 
known.  But,  above  all,  it  was  Daumier  who,  after  twenty 
years  of  the  Empire,  during  which  his  pencil  had  been  politi- 
cally idle,  returned  in  his  old  age  to  the  fray  with  all  the  vigor 
of  the  best  days  of  La  Caricature. 

Yet  to  those  whose  sympathies  were  with  France  during 
the  struggle  of  1870-71,  there  is  a  distinct  pathos  in  the 
change  that  is  seen  in  the  later  work  of  Daumier — not  a  per- 
sonal pathos,  but  a  pathos  due  to  the  changed  condition  of  the 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


215 


country  which  it  retiects.  The  old  ciauntless  audacity,  the 
trenchant  sarcasm,  the  mocking,  hght-hearted  laughter,  is 
gone.  In  its  place  is  the  haunting  bitterness  of  an  old  man, 
under  the  burden  of  an  impotent  wrath — a  man  who,  for  all 
that  he  dips  his  pencil  in  pure  vitriol,  cannot  do  justice  to  the 
nightmare  visions  that  beset  him.  There  is  no  better  com- 
mentary upon  the  pervading  feeling  of  helpless  anger  and 
outraged  national  pride  of  this  epoch  than  in  these  haunting 
designs  of  Daumier's.  They  are  the  work  of  a  man  tremu- 
lous with  feverish  indignation,  weird  and  ghastly  conceptions, 
such  as  might  have  emanated  from  the  caldron  of  Macbeth's 


"  Adieu  1  " 

"  No,  '  an  revoir.'     Visits  must  be  returned." 

By  Cham. 

witches.  The  backgrounds  arc  hllcil  in  with  solid  black,  like 
a  tuncral  pall;  and  trom  out  the  darkness  the  Icnturcs  ol  Bis- 
marck, ol  Noil  Moltkc,  ol  W'iIIk'.ui  I.,  Icci'  nialc\ olcntlw  dis- 
torted into  hideous,  ghoulish  figures — \ainpires  t easting  upon 


2l6 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


the  ruin  they  have  wrought.  French  liberty,  in  the  guise  of 
a  wan,  emaciated,  despairing  figure,  the  personification  of  a 
wronged  and  outraged  womanhood,  haunts  Daumier's  pages. 
At  one  time  she  is  standing,  bound  and  gagged,  between  the 
gaping  muzzles  of  two  cannon  marked,  respectiv^ely,  "  Paris, 
1851,"  and  "Sedan,  1870,"  and  underneath  the  laconic 
legend,  "  Histoire  d'un  Regne." 

Another  cartoon  shows  France  as  a  female  Prometheus 
bound  to  the  rock,  her  vitals  being  torn  by  the  Germanic  vul- 


■;UVCN|R5«    RECCE   'S 


SOUVENIRS    AND    KECJRETS. 


By  Aranda. 

ture.  A  number  of  these  cartoons,  all  of  which  appeared  in 
l.a  Charivari,  treat  bitterly  of  the  disastrous  results  of  the 
twenty  years  during  which  Louis  Napoleon  was  the  Emperor 
of  the  French.  The  sketch  called  "  This  Has  Killed  That  " 
has  allusion  to  the  popular  ballot  which  elected  the  Prince- 
President  to  the  throne.     A  gaunt,  angry  female  figure  Is 


2   -2 


-1      5 

<  .2 

—      'o 


D 
/I 
■A 


'^«i^t^'^"^^?4fia;s:k.";;;. 


1 1     M— man  7^1% 

PRI'SSIA 


INTKOUUClNt;    TIIK    NliW    NATIONAL    ASSEMULY    TO    1  RANCE 
By  Daiimier  in  "  Charivari.'''' 


ix:i^ 


220 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


pointing  with  one  hand  to  the  ballot-box,  in  which  repose  the 
"  Ouis  "  which  made  Louis  Napoleon  an  Emperor,  and  with 
the  other  to  the  corpses  on  the  battlefield  where  the  sun  of  his 
empire  finally  sets.  "  This,"  she  cries,  "  has  killed  that." 
The  same  idea  suggested  a  somewhat  similar  cartoon,  in 
which  a  French  peasant,  gazing  at  the  shell-battered  ruins  of 


"let    us    eat    the    I'RUSSIAN." 
By  Andre  Gill. 


his  humble  home,  exclaims  in  the  peasant's  ungrammatical 


patois . 


(( 


And  it  was  for  this  that  I  voted  '  Yes.'  "     Still 


more  grim  and  ominous  is  the  cartoon  showing  a  huge  mouse- 
trap with  three  holes.  The  mouse-trap  represents  the  Plebi- 
scite. Two  of  the  holes,  marked  respectively,  "  185  i  "  and 
"  1 870,"  have  been  sprung,  and  each  has  caught  the  throat  of 
a  \ictim.  The  third,  however,  still  yawns  open  warningly, 
with  the  date  not  completely  filled  in. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  221 

Still  another  cartoon,  thoroughly  characteristic  of  Dau- 
mier's  later  manner,  is  "  The  Dream  of  Bismarck,"  one 
which  touches  upon  the  idea  which  has  been  used  allegori- 
cally  in  connection  with  every  great  conqueror  whose  wake 
is  marked  by  the  strewn  corpses  of  fallen  thousands.  In  it 
Bismarck,  frightfully  haggard  and  ghastly  of  countenance, 
is  sleeping  in  his  chair,  while  at  his  side  is  the  grim  figure  of 
Death  bearing  a  huge  sickle  and  pointing  out  over  the  bloody 
battlefield. 

Of  the  younger  group  of  cartoonists  none  is  more  closely 
connected  with  the  events  of  the  annee  terrible  than  "  Cham," 
the  Comte  de  Noe.  The  name  Noe,  it  will  be  remembered, 
is  French  for  Noah,  just  as  Cham  is  the  French  equivalent  of 
Ham,  second  son  of  the  patriarch  of  Scripture,  The  Comte 
de  Noe  was  also  second  son  of  his  father,  hence  the  ap- 
propriateness of  his  pseudonym.  As  a  caricaturist,  Cham 
was  animated  by  no  such  seriousness  of  purpose  as  formed 
the  inspiration  of  Daumier;  and  this  was  why  he  never 
became  a  really  great  caricaturist.  It  was  the  humorous  side 
of  life,  even  of  the  tragedies  of  life,  that  appealed  to  him, 
and  he  reflected  it  back  with  an  incisive  drollery  which  was 
irresistible.  He  was  one  of  the  most  rapid  and  industrious 
of  workers,  and  found  in  the  events  of  I'annee  terrible  the 
inspiration  of  a  vast  number  of  cartoons.  1  he  looting  pro- 
pensities of  the  Prussians  were  satirized  in  a  sketch  showing 
two  IVussian  officers  looking  greedily  at  a  clock  on  the 
mantelpiece  in  a  French  chateau.  "  Fet  us  take  the  clock." 
"  But  peace  has  already  been  signed."  "  No  matter.  Don't 
you  see  the  clock  is  slow?  "  The  Cicnnan  acijuisition  of  the 
Rhenish  provinces  is  suiniiicHl  up  in  a  picture  which  shows  a 
German  officer  attaching  to  his  leg  a  chain,  at  the  ciul  of 
which    is   a    huge   ball    market!    Alsace.      The   siege   ha\ing 


222 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


NEW     UESKiN     FDR  A     HANI)    HELL    PROPOSED    BY     "  CHARIVARI  "     FOR     THE    PUR- 
POSE   OK    RE.MI.\I)IN(;    THE    ASSEMBLY    THAT    PRUSSIAN    TROOPS    STILL    HOLD 

FRENCH    TERRirORY. 

By  Daumier. 

turned  every  Parisan  into  a  nominal  soldier,  this  condition  of 
affairs  is  hit  off  by  Cham  in  a  cartoon  underneath  which  is 
written :  "  Everybody  being  soldiers,  the  officers  will  have 
the  right  to  put  through  the  paces  anyone  whom  they  meet  in 
the  streets."  The  sketch  shows  a  cook  in  the  usual  culinary 
costume,  and  bearing  on  his  head  a  Hat  basket  Hlled  with 
kettles  and  pans,  marking  time  at  the  command  of  an  officer. 
The  attitude  of  England  during  the  war  seemed  to  the  carica- 
turist perfidious,  after  the  practical  aid  which  France  had 
rendered   Albion    in    the    Crimea.      Cham    hits   this   off    by 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  223 

representing  the  two  nations  as  women,  Britannia  looking 
ironically  at  prostrate  FVance  and  saying:  "  Oh,  no!  Prussia 
has  not  yet  entirely  killed  her!  So  it  is  not  yet  time  to  go  to 
her  aid."  .  _ 

The  statesmen  and  warriors  of  that  period  were  very 
happily  caricatured  in  a  series  of  cartoons,  most  of  which 
appeared   in  L'Edipse.     Gill   excelled   in  his  caricature   of 


Germany  :  "  Farewell,  Madame,  and  if 

France  :   "  Ha  !  We  shall  meet  again  !  " 

individual  men  rather  than  in  the  caricature  of  events  or 
groups.  His  real  name  was  Louis  Alexandre  Gosset.  He 
was  horn  at  I,andou/v-li-\'illc,  Octoher  19,  1840,  and  died  in 
Paris,  Decemher  29,  1S81;.  Thiers,  (Jamhetta,  Louis  Blanc, 
all  the  men  ot  the  time,  were  hit  oft  h\'  liis  pencil.  His 
method  in  most  cases  consisted  ot  the  grotes(]ue  exaggeration 
of  the  subject's  head  at  the  expense  of  the  body.      He  was 


224 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


PILORI-PHRENOLO&IE. 


ilUrcSj  a  lU  305    '5?) 


C       4,lAufj      J  t  (It  T     Uvtcn^-U. 

en 


BISMARKOFF  1 

03c^    -ilMAtl,      fV-VW.*  ^^CCVtVX^Il^il^y^t^  l(A\e--iXvMiAXO^vt,-^ 

»*v^    ?<x-  'V¥voV^'^tA-'^V^a^tU.--^^4■u^^^);*-cWolM:C-*.. 
BlSMARCK    THE    FIRST. 

especially  happy  in  his  caricature  of  Thiers,  whose  diminutive 
size,  as  well  as  his  great  importance,  made  him  a  favorite 
subject  for  the  cartoonist.  Thiers  as  Hamlet  soliloquizing, 
"  To  be  or  not  to  be  "  ;  Thiers  as  "  The  Man  Who  Laughs  " ; 
the  head  of  Thiers  peering  over  the  rim  of  a  glass,  "  A 
tempest  in  a  glass  of  water  ";  Thiers  as  the  first  conscript  of 
France;  Thiers  as  Achilles  in  retreat — all  these  and  count- 
less others  are  from  the  pencil  of  Gill. 

A  striking  satirical  sketch  by  Hadol,  entitled  "  La  Parade," 
sums  up  all  the  buffooneries  of  the  Second  Empire.     In  it 


ICi    ON   Ki?A5SE 
A  LA  niPlUTi 


iKuciiu — lOyu. 


220 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


the  Due  de  Morny  as  the  barking  showman  is  violently  inv^it- 
ing  the  populace  to  enter  and  inspect  the  wonders  of  the 
Theatre  Badinguet.  Badinguet,  as  said  before,  was  the 
name  of  the  workman  in  whose  clothes  Louis  Napoleon  was 
said  to  have  escaped  from  his  imprisonment  at  Ham;  and 
throughout  the  Seconci  Empire  it  was  the  name  by  which  the 
Parisians  maliciously  alluded  to  the  Emperor.     Behind  De 


KAZAINE. 
By  Faustiu. 


Morny  in  the  cartoon  are  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  seated 
at  the  cashier's  desk  at  the  entrance  of  the  theater  to  take  in 
the  money  of  the  dupes  whom  De  Morny  can  persuade  to 
enter.  To  the  right  and  left,  in  grotesque  attire,  are  the 
actors  of  the  show,  representing  the  various  statesmen  anci 
soldiers  whose  names  were  connected  with  the  reign. 

Popular  hatred  of  Marshal  Bazaine  after  the  surrender  of 
Metz,  based  on  the  prevalent  belief  that  he  had  sold  the  city 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


227 


and  the  army  under  his  command  to  the  Germans,  finds 
pictorial  expression  in  the  grim  cartoon  by  Faustin,  repro- 
duced here.  The  artist  has  cunningly  drawn  into  the  features 
of  the  Marshal  an  expression  of  unutterable  craft  and 
treachery.  Round  his  neck  there  has  been  flung  what  at  the 
first  glance  seems  like  a  decoration  of  honor,  an  impression 
strengthened  by  the  cross  and  inscription  on  his  breast.  But 
as  you  look  more  closely  you  perceive  that  this  decoration  is 
suspended  from  the  noose  of  the  hangman's  rope,  and  that 


the  words  "  Au  Marechal  Bazaine — La  France  Reconnais- 
sante  "  have  anothci-  and  a  tieeper  significance.  1  he  de- 
fender of  the  citv  ot  i'aris.  General  Trochu,  was  genially 
caricatured  b\  Andre  dill  in  l.'EcVipsc  as  a  hidiicliissciisc 
industriously  ironing  out  the  dirty  linen  ol  irancc.  llow- 
c\cr  great  his  jiopularitN  \\as  at  the  time,  iroclui  has  by  no 
means  escaped  subsecjuent  criticism.  I  o  him  the  resistance 
of  I'aris  seemed  nothing  but  "  an  heroic  tolK,"  ami  he  had 


ENTREE  $OLENNELLE   OE   L'EMPEREUR    0*ALL£MAGNEA   PARIS 
if.aricature  dc  F^lix  R^gamey.) 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  229 

no  hesitation  about  proclaiming  his  opinion.  Another  ex- 
ceedingly happy  caricature  by  Andre  Gill  was  that  represent- 
ing Henri  Rochefort,  the  implacable  enemy  of  Louis 
Napoleon,  as  a  member  of  the  Government  of  the  National 
Defense.  Here  Rochefort's  head  is  shown  peering  out  of 
the  mouth  of  a  cannon  projecting  through  a  hole  in  the  city's 
fortifications. 


PART    IV 

THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY 
CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE    EVOLUTION    OF    AMERICAN    CARICATURE 

DURING  the  period  covered  by  the  present  chap- 
ter the  foundation  of  the  two  leading  American 
comic  weeklies,  Puck  and  Judge,  the  former  in 
1877  and  the  latter  in  1881,  led  to  a  distinct  advance  in 
political  caricature  in  this  country.  It  also  made  it  possible 
for  the  first  time  to  draw  an  intelligent  comparison  between 
the  tendencies  of  caricature  in  England  and  in  America. 
No  one  can  look  over  the  earlv  files  of  Puck  and  Judge  and 
compare  them  with  Punch  for  the  corresponding  years  with- 
out being  struck  with  the  contrast,  not  merely  in  methods  of 
drawing  and  printing,  but  in  the  whole  underlying  spirit. 
For  the  past  half  century  Pioicli  has  adhered  faithfully  to  its 
original  attitude  of  neutrality  upon  questions  of  partv  politics. 
Its  aim  has  been  to  represent  the  weight  of  public  opinion  in 
a  sober  and  c()nscr\ati\'e  spirit;  to  discountenance  and  rebuke 
the  excesses  of  whichexer  party  is  in  poxxer;  to  commemorate 
the  great  national  calamities,  as  well  as  the  occasions  of 
national  rejoicings.  li  it  somewhat  oxerstepped  its  estab- 
lished bounds  in  its  repeated  attacks  upon  \  .owl  BcaconsficKI 
because  his  torcign  policx'  was  rcgarticd  with  tiistnisr,  it  made 
amends  witii  an  cloijiieiit  tribute  at  the  tmie  ot  that  states- 
man's ileatli.  And  il  on  one  occasion  it  cartooned  him  in  the 
guise   of    the   mehmcholy    Dane,    with    broad    impartiality    it 

231 


232 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


travestied  his  great  rival,  Gladstone,  a  month  or  two  later,  in 
precisely  the  same  character.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  English 
cartoons  are  not  so  distinctly  popular  in  tone  as  those  in  this 
country.  The  underlying  thought  is  apt  to  be  more  cultured, 
more  bookish,  so  to  speak;  to  take  the  form  of  parodies  upon 
Shakespere  and  Dante,  Dickens  and  Scott.  And  yet,  taking 
them  all  in  all,  it  would  be  difficult  to  point  out  any  parallel 
series  of  cartoons  which,  after  the  lapse  of  years,  require  so 
little  explanation  to  make  them  intelligible,  or  which  cover 


CAKAN     h'ai'IIK. 

in   so   comprehensive   a   manner  the  current   history  of  the 
world. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  typical  American  cartoon  of  a 
generation  ago  concerned  itself  but  little  with  questions  of 
international    interest,    while    in    its    treatment   of   domestic 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


-jj 


affairs  it  was  largely  lacking  in  the  dignity  and  restraint  which 
characterized  the  British  school.  Being  founded  upon  party 
politics,  its  purpose  was  primarily  not  to  reflect  public  opinion, 
but  to  mold  it;  to  make  political  capital;  to  win  votes  by 
fair  means,  if  possible,  but  to  win  them.  From  their  \-ery 
inception  Puck  and  Judge,  as  the  mouthpieces  of  their  respec- 
tive parties,  have  exerted  a  formidable  power,  whose  far- 
reaching  influence  it  would  be  impossible  to  gauge,  especially 
during  the  febrile  periods  of  the  Presidential  campaigns.  At 
these  times  the  animosity  shown  in  some  of  the  cartoons  seems 
rather  surprising,  when  looked  at  from  the  sober  vantage 
ground  of  later  years.  Political  molehills  were  exaggerated 
into  mountains,  and  even  those  elements  of  vulgar  vitupera- 


(;ULUVER    CKISI'I. 
From  ^'/l  Papaji^allo"  < Kome^. 

tion  and  cheap  personal  abuse — features  of  political  cam- 
paigns which  we  are  happily  outgrowing — were  eagerly 
seized  upon  tor  the  purpose  ot  pictorial  satire.  'Fhc  peculiar 
bitterness  which  marked  the  memorable  campaign  between 
Mr.  Clevelanti  and  Mr.  Blaine  in  18S4  was  strongly 
mirrored  in  the  political  caricature  ot  the  time.  It  market! 
the  highwater  line  ot  the  element  ot  purely  personal  abuse 
in  comic  art.      In  the  K:\\y\  the  extreme  measures  to  which  each 


234 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


Fig.  291.  —  Caricature  de  Gill.  {Eclipse,  19  octobie  1873.) 

of  the  rival  parties  resorted  during  that  year  had  very 
beneficial  effects,  for  after  the  election  the  nation,  in  calmer 
mood,  grew  ashamed  at  the  thought  of  its  violence  and 
bitterness,  and  subsequent  campaigns  ha\'e  consequently  been 
much  more  free  from  these  objectionable  features.  Mr. 
Harrison,  Mr.  Bryan,  Mr.  McKinley,  and  Mr.  Roosevelt 
have  all  been  assailed  from  many  different  points.  But  we 
are  no  longer  in  the  mood  to  tolerate  attempts  to  rake  up 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  235 

alleged  personal  scandals  and  to  use  them  in  the  pamphlet 
and  the  cartoon.  Enough  of  this  was  done  by  both  parties 
in  1884  to  last  us  for  at  least  a  generation.  There  are  car- 
toons which  appeared  in  Puck  and  Jitd^c  which  even  at  this 
day  we  should  not  think  of  reprinting,  and  which  the  publica- 
tions containing  them  and  the  artists  who  drew  them  would 
probably  like  to  forget. 

Nevertheless,  to  the  close  student  of  political  historv  there 
is  in  the  American  cartoon  of  this  period,  with  all  its  tiam- 
boyant  colorings,  its  reckless  exaggeration,  its  puerile 
animosity,  material  which  the  more  sober  and  dignified  Brit- 
ish cartoon  does  not  offer.  It  does  not  sum  up  so  adequately 
the  sober  second  thought  of  the  nation,  but  it  does  keep  us  in 
touch  with  the  changing  mood  of  popular  opinion,  its  varying 
pulse-beat  from  hour  to  hour.  To  glance  over  the  old  Hies 
throughout  any  one  of  the  Presidential  campaigns  is  the  next 
best  thing  to  living  them  over  again,  listening  once  more  to 
the  daily  heated  arguments,  the  inflammable  stump  speeches, 
the  rancorous  vituperation  which  meant  so  much  at  the  time, 
and  which  seemed  so  idle  the  day  after  the  election. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE    THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

II"  is  not  Strange  that  during  these  years  American  car- 
toonists concerned  themselves  hut  little  with  matters 
outside  of  their  own  country.  For  more  than  a  decade 
after  the  close  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War  there  were  very 
few  episodes  which  assumed  international  importance,  and 
still  fewer  in  which  the  United  States  had  any  personal  in- 
terest. France  was  amply  occupied  in  recovering  from  the 
effects  of  her  exhaustive  struggle;  United  Germany  was  un- 
dergoing the  process  of  crystallizing  into  definite  form.  Eu- 
rope, as  a  whole,  had  no  more  energy  than  was  needed  to  at- 
tend to  domestic  affairs  and  to  keeping  a  jealous  eye  uponEng- 
lish  ambition  in  Egypt  and  Russian  aggression  in  the  Balkan 
States.  For  some  little  time  after  the  French  Commune 
echoes  of  that  internecine  struggle  were  still  to  be  found  in 
the  work  of  caricaturists,  both  in  France  and  Germany. 
Before  taking  final  leave  of  that  veteran  French  artist, 
Honore  Daumier,  it  seems  necessary  to  allude  briefly  to  a  few 
of  the  cartoons  of  that  splendidly  tragic  series  of  his  old  age 
dealing  with  the  France  which,  ha\'ing  undergone  the  horrors 
of  the  Germanic  invasion  and  of  the  Commune,  is  shattered 
but  not  broken,  and  begins  to  look  forward  with  wistful  eyes 
to  a  time  when  she  shall  have  recovered  her  strength  and  her 
prosperity.  One  of  the  most  striking  of  these  cartoons  rep- 
resents France  as  a  deep-rooted  tree  which  has  been  bent  and 
rent    by    the    passing    whirlwind.       "Poor    France!       The 

branches  are  broken,  but  the  trunk  holds  always."      Simple  as 

236 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


237 


"  rUOK    I'KANCK  I       niK    IJRANCIIKS    AKK    IIROKKN,     HIT    THE    TRUNK    STILL    HOLDS.' 

/)'i'  Daitmicr  in  "  Charii'iiri." 

the  design  is,  the  artist  b\'  countless  touches  ot  light  and  of 
shadow  has  gi\cn  it  a  sodiIum'  sigiiiticancc  which  long  remains 
in  the  niemorw  It  was  to  Napoleon  that  Dauniicr  bitterly 
ascribed  the  iinstortuiies  ol  \ .a  l\ilnt\  \\ud  111  these  cartoons 
he  lost  no  opjinrt unit \  ol  attacking  Napoleonic  legend. 
Stark  ami  ticad,  nailctl  to  the  Book  ot  1  listorv  is  the  Imperial 
eagle.      "  ^  ou  will  remain  outside,  nailed   fast  on  the  coxer, 


238 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


a  hideous  warning  to  future  generations  of  Frenchmen,"  is 
Daumier's  moral.      Of  brighter  nature  is  the  cartoon  called 


"  Vol!  shall  stay  there,  nailed  to  the  eover,  a 
warning  to  future  generations  of  Frenchmen." 

Bv  Daumier  in  "  Clia7-ivari." 

"  The  New  Year."  It  represents  the  dawning  of  1872,  and 
portrays  France  sweeping  away  the  last  broken  relics  of  her 
period  of  disaster. 

In  Germany,  also,  one  finds  a  few  tardy  cartoons  bearing 
upon  Napoleon  III.  I^^en  in  the  Fliegende  Blatter,  a 
periodical  which  throughout  its  history  has  confined  itself, 
with  few  exceptions,  to  social  satire,  perennial  skits  upon  the 
dignified  Herr  Professor,  the  self-important  young  lieuten- 
ant, the  punctilious  university  student,  one  famous  cartoon 
appeared  late  in  the  year  1871,  entitled  "The  Root  of  All 
Evil."  It  portrayed  Napoleon  III.,  as  a  gigantic,  distorted 
vegetable  of  the  carrot  or  turnip  order,  his  flabby  features 
distended  into  tuberous  rotundity,  the  familiar  hall-mark  of 
his  sweeping  mustache  and  imperial  lengthened  grotesquely 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


239 


into  the  semblance  of  a  threefold  root.  Still  better  known 
is  a  series  of  cartoons  which  ran  through  hall  a  dozen  num- 
bers of  the  Fliegende  Blatter,  entitled  "  The  Franco-Prussian 
War:  A  Tragedy  in  Five  Acts,"  in  which  the  captions  are  all 
clever  applications  of  lines  from  Schiller's  "Maid  of  Orleans. 
As  compared  with  the  work  of  really  great  cartoonists,  this 
series  has  little  to  make  it  memorable.  But  as  an  expression 
of  a  victorious  nation's  good-natured  contempt,  its  tendency 


THE    NEW    VKAK    liRINCS    NEW    HOPE    I- OR    !•  RANGE. 

By  Daumier  in  "  Cliarivari." 

to  view  the  whole  fierce  struggle  of  1870-71  as  an  amusing 
farce  enacted  by  a  company  of  grotesque  marionettes,  it  is 
not  without  significance  aiul  interest. 

Almost  as  (jermanic  \\\  sentiment  and  in  execution  as  the 
"  Maid  of  Orleans  "  series  in  the  FWcgoidc  IWaUcr  was  the 
curious  little  Nojuinc  rntitlcd  "  llie  I'ight  at  Dame  luiropa's 
School,"  written  and  illiistratitl  by  Thomas  Xast.  i  his  skit, 
which  was  [irintcii  in  New   "l  ork  after  the  close  of  the  War, 


240 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


contained  thirty-three  drawings  which  are  remarkable  chiefly 
in  that  they  are  comparatively  different  from  anything  else 
that  Nast  ever  did  and  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
war  cartoons  of  the  German  papers.  The  Louis  Napoleon 
of  this  book  is  so  much  like  the  Louis  Napoleon  of  the 
Fliegende  Blatter  that  one  is  bound  to  feel  that  one  was  the 


■(   ^  \ 


'■'lUE    ROOT    OK    ALL    EVIL. 

From  the  "  Fliegende  Blatter"  in  iSyi. 


The  wliole  spirit  of  tlicse  pictures,  Avliicli  appeared  in  tlic  Flngi'tidi-  IVdttcr  after 
tlie  Napiikonic  rlownfall  in  1S71,  is  a  travesty  on  tlie  splendid  lines  of  Schiller  in  tlie 
"  Maid  of  Orleans  "  (Jungfrau  von  Orleans). 


242  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

direct  inspiration  of  the  other.  The  text  of  the  book, 
though  nothing  astonishing,  serves  its  purpose  in  ekicidating 
the  drawings.  It  tells  of  the  well-ordered  educational  es- 
tablishment kept  by  Dame  Europa  in  which  the  five  largest 
boys  acted  as  monitors,  to  keep  the  unruly  pupils  in  order. 
These  boys  were  Louis,  William,  Aleck,  Joseph,  and  John. 
If  a  dispute  arose  among  any  of  the  smaller  boys,  the  mon- 
itors had  to  examine  into  its  cause,  and,  if  possible,  to  settle  it 
amicably.  Should  it  be  necessary  to  light  the  matter  out, 
they  were  to  see  fair  plav,  stop  the  encounter  when  it  had 
gone  far  enough,  and  at  all  times  to  uphold  justice,  and  to 
prevent  tyranny  and  bullying.  In  this  work  Master  Louis 
and  Master  John  were  particularly  prominent.  There  was 
a  tradition  in  the  school  of  a  terrific  row  in  times  past,  when 
a  monitor  named  Nicholas  attacked  a  very  dirty  little  boy 
called  Constantine.  John  and  Louis  pitched  in,  and  gave 
Nicholas  such  a  thrashing  that  he  never  got  over  it,  and  soon 
afterward  left  the  school.  Now  each  of  the  upper  boys  had 
a  little  garden  of  his  own  in  w'hich  he  took  great  pride  and 
interest.  In  the  center  of  each  garden  there  was  an  arbor, 
fitted  up  according  to  the  taste  and  means  of  its  owner. 
Louis  had  the  prettiest  arbor  of  all,  while  that  of  John  was  a 
mere  tool-house.  \A'hen  the  latter  w^ished  to  enjoy  a  holiday 
he  would  punt  himself  across  the  brook  and  enjoy  himself 
in  the  arbor  of  his  friend  Louis.  By  the  side  of  Louis's 
domain  was  that  of  William,  who,  though  proud  of  his  own 
garden,  never  went  to  work  in  it  without  casting  an  envious 
glance  on  two  little  fiower  beds  which  now  belonged  to  Louis, 
but  which  ought  by  rights  he  thought  to  belong  to  him. 
Over  these  flower  beds  he  often  talked  with  his  favorite  fag, 
a  shrewd  lad  named  Mark,  full  of  deep  tricks  and  dodges. 
"There  is  only  one  way  to  do  it,"  said  Mark.     "  If  you 


Kin.  i'Ji.  —  La  Mlualion  poliliinic  en  Kraiicc.  (Novetnbri!  1873.) 
Cancalurc  Jc  Fiilij  n«gime».  publico  dins   Ic  Harper  g  Wceklej  ilc  Ncw-Yorfc. 


244  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

want  the  flower  beds,  you  must  fight  Louis  for  them,  and 
I  beheve  you  will  lick  him  all  to  smash;  but  you  must  fight 
him  alone." 

"  How  do  you  mean?  "  replied  William. 

"  I  mean,  you  must  take  care  that  the  other  monitors  don't 
interfere  in  the  quarrel.  If  they  do,  they  will  be  sure  to  go 
against  you.  Remember  what  a  grudge  Joseph  owes  you 
for  the  licking  you  gave  him  not  along  ago;  and  Aleck, 
though  to  be  sure  Louis  took  little  Constantine's  part  against 
him  in  that  great  bullying  row,  is  evidently  beginning  to  grow 
jealous  of  your  influence  in  the  school.  You  see,  old  fellow, 
you  have  grown  so  much  lately,  and  filled  out  so  wonderfully 
that  you  are  getting  really  quite  formidable.  Why,  I 
recollect  the  time  when  you  were  quite  a  little  chap !  " 

Thereupon  the  astute  Mark  designs  a  plan  by  which 
William  may  provoke  the  encounter  while  making  Louis 
seem  the  aggressor.  And  so  on,  under  the  guise  of  fist- 
fight  between  two  schoolboys,  Nast  tells  of  all  the  events  of 
the  struggle  of  1871  ;  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  the  Baptism 
of  Fire,  Sedan,  the  German  march  on  Paris,  the  Siege,  and 
the  different  attitudes  assumed  by  the  other  monitors. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


GENERAL    EUROPEAN  AFFAIRS 


PUNCH,  however,  is  really  the  most  satisfactory  and 
comprehensive  source  for  the  history  of  political 
caricature  during  the  years  following  the  siege  of 
Paris  down  to  1886.  From  the  indefatigable  pencil  of 
Tenniel  and  Sambourne  we  get  an  exhaustive  and  pungent 
record  of  the  whole  period  of  Disraeli's  ascendency,  the  fruits 


"  NKW    CROWNS     K(1R    OI.D. 

Disraeli  offering  Victoria  the  Imperial  crown 
of  India. 

of    his    much-criticised    foreign    po1ic\',    T'jiglaiul's    attitude 
regarding  the  Sue/    Canal,   lur  share   in   the    iurco-Russian 

245 


246 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


conflict,  her  acquisition  of  the  island  of  Cyprus,  the  fall  of 
Khartoum,  the  Fenian  difficulties  of  1885,  and  the  history  of 
Mr.  Gladstone's  Home  Rule  policy. 

Throughout  the  cartoons  of  this  period  there  is  no  one 
figure  which   appears  with  more  persistent  regularity   than 


TIGHTENING   THE    GRIP. 


that  of  Lord  Beaconsfield,  and  with  scarcely  an  exception  he 
is  uniformly  treated  with  an  air  of  indulgent  contempt.  Of 
course,  his  strongly  marked  features,  the  unmistakably 
Semitic  cast  of  nose  and  lips,  the  closely  curled  black  ringlets 
clustering  above  his  ears,  all  offered  irresistible  temptation 
to  the  cartoonist,  with  the  result  that  throughout  the  entire 
series,  in  whatever  guise  he  is  portrayed,  the  suggestion  of 
charlatan,  of  necromancer,  of  mountebank,  of  one  kind  or 
another  of  the  endless  genus  "  fake,"  is  never  wholly  absent. 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


247 


Even  in  Tenniel's  cartoon,  "  New  Crowns  for  Old," 
which  commemorates  the  passage  of  the  Royal  Titles  Bill, 
conferring  upon  the  Queen  the  title  of  Empress  of  India,  the 
scene  is  confessedly  adapted  from  Aladdin,  and  "  Dizzy  "  is 
portrayed  as  a  slippery  Oriental  with  an  oily  smile,  in  the 
act  of  trading  a  gaudy-looking  piece  of  tinsel  headgear  for 
the  more  modest,  but  genuine,  regal  crown  topped  with  the 
cross  of  Malta.  1  he  bestowal  of  the  title  of  Earl  of  Beacons- 
field  upon  Mr.  Disraeli,  which  followed  within  a  very  few 
weeks,  was  too  good  a  chance  for  satire  for  Mr.  Tenniel  to 
let  pass,  and  he  hit  it  oft  in  a  page  entitled  "  One  Good  luvn 
Deserves  Another,"  in  which  Victoria,  with  the  Imperial 
crown  of  India  upon  her  head,  is  conferring  a  coronet  upon 
"  Dizzy,"  kneeling  obsequiously  at  her  feet. 

At  this  time  the  one  international  question  which  bade  fair 
to  assume  any  considerable  importance  was  that  of  Russia's 
attitude  in  the  Balkan  peninsula.     Already  in  June,    1886, 


.-i:oi.lS — KII.KK    ni"    TIIK    SI'oKMS.       TIIK    EASTERLY 
WIND     IdO    MICH     K(IR    lUSMAKCK. 


we  hntl  Punch  portraxing  tbc  C/ar  ot  Russia  as  a  master  ol 
till'  liiiuiuls,  just  i-c\ul\  to  Km  slip  the  K'ash  h-oin  Ins  "  dogs  ol 
war,"  Ser\  ia,  Montenegro,  Bosnia,  and  I  lcr/ego\  uia,  m  \nw 


248 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


suit  of  the  unsuspecting  Sultan  of  Turkey,  while  John  Bull 
in  the  guise  of  a  policeman,  is  cautiously  peering  from  behind 
a  fence,  evidently  wondering  whether  this  is  a  case  which  calls 
for  active  interference.     It  is  only  a  few  days  later  that  the 


"  l'etat   c'est  moi  !  " 

outbreak  of  an  insurrection  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina 
hastens  a  decision  on  the  part  of  Europe  to  "  keep  the  Ring  " 
and  let  the  Sultan  ward  off  the  "  dogs  of  war  "  single-handed 
— an  incident  duly  commemorated  in  Punch  on  June  19. 
The  Turkish  atrocities  in  Bulgaria,  however,  aroused  public 
sentiment  throughout  the  Continent  to  such  a  degree  that  the 
Powers  united  in  demanding  an  armistice.  Tenniel's  interpre- 
tation of  this  incident  takes  the  form  of  a  sick-chamber,  in 
which  the  Sick  Man  of  Europe  is  surrounded  by  a  corps  of 
illustrious  physicians,  Drs.  Bull,  William  I.,  Francis  Joseph 
and  Company,  who  are  firmly  insisting  that  their  patient  shall 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


249 


swallow  a  huge  pill  labeled  "  Armistice  " — "  or  else  there's 
no  knowing  what  might  happen!  "  The  protocol  on  Turk- 
ish affairs  which  soon  after  this  was  proposed  by  Russia  and 
supported  by  Disraeli,  forms  the  subject  of  two  suggestive 
cartoons  in  Punch.  The  first,  entitled  "  Pons  Asinorum," 
depicts  the  protocol  as  a  make-shift  bridge  supported  on  the 
docile  shoulders  of  John  Bull  and  the  other  European  Pow- 
ers,  and  spanning  a   lagoon  entitled   "  Eastern    Question." 


TllK    IIIDDK.N     HAM). 


0\cr  this  bridge  the  Russian  bear  Is  stealthily  crawling  to 
his  desired  goal,  his  eye  haH  closctl  in  a  sl\-  wink, 
his  sides  bristling  like  a  \eritable  arsenal  with 
weapons.  \\\c  second  eaitoon,  alkuling  to  the  Porte's  re- 
jection ot  the  protocol,  repi-esents  Disraeli  looking  discon- 
solately upon  a  smoldering  pile  ot  powder  kegs  and  aminu- 


250 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


nition,  over  which  he  has  placed  the  protocol,  twisted  into 
the  shape  of  a  candle-snuffer.  "  Confound  the  thing!  It 
is  all  ablaze !  "  he  ejaculates,  while  Lord  Hartington  re- 
minds him,  "  Ah,  my  dear  D.,  paper  will  burn,  you  know  !  " 

The  next  significant  caricature  in  the  Punch  series  belongs 
to  the  period  of  actual  hostilities  between  Turkey  and  Rus- 
sia, after  Plevna  had  been  completely  invested  and  the  Turks 
were  at  all  points  being  steadily  beaten  back.  This  carica- 
ture, entitled  "  Tightening  the  Grip,"  showing  the  strug- 
gling Turk  being  slowly  crushed  to  death  in  the  relentless 


THE    IRISH    FRANKENSTEIN. 


hug  of  the  gigantic  bear,  may  safely  be  left  to  speak  for 
itself  without  further  description.  Meanwhile,  England 
was  watching  with  growing  disquiet  Russia's  actions  in  the 
Balkans,  In  one  cartoon  of  this  period,  Mr.  Bull  is  bluntly 
refusing  to  be  drawn  into  a  game  of  "  Blind  Hookey  "  with 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


the  other  European  Powers.  "  Now  then,  Mr.  Bull,  we're 
only  waiting  for  you,"  says  Russia;  and  John  Bull  rejoins: 
"  Thank  you,  I  don't  like  the  game.  I  like  to  see  the  cards !  " 
Prince  Bismarck  at  this  time  was  doing  his  best  to  bring  about 
an  understanding  between  England  and  Russia,  but  the  dif- 
ficulties of  the  situation  threatened  to  prove  too  much  even 
for  that  veteran  diplomat.  Punch  cleverly  hit  off  the  situa- 
tion by  representing  Bismarck  as  .Eolus,  the  wind-god,  strug- 
gling desperately  with  an  unmanageable  wind-bag,  which  is 
swelling  threateningly  in  the  direction  ot  the  East  and  assum- 
ing the  form  of  a  dangerous  war-cloud.  Iiventually  all  mis- 
understandings were  peacefully  smoothed  away  at  the  Berlm 
Congress,  which  Tenniel  commemorates  with  a  cartoon  show- 
ing "  Dizzy  "  in  the  guise  of  a  tight-rope  performer  tri- 
umphantly carrying  the  Sultan  on  his  shoulders  along  a  rope 
labeled  "  Congress,"  his  inherent  double-dealing  being  sug- 


^lik' 


-i^^^":!^;-  :   -!F^,- 


riii:  DARiNi;  DueKi.iNi;.     june,   1883. 

An  early  appearance  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  in 
caricature. 

gested  b\   his  balancing  pole,  which  he  swavs  liack  and  forth 

indifterently,    ami    the    op[i()sltc    cmls    of    which    arc    labeled 

peace      and      war. 

Comparatn  ely    lew    cai-loons   ol    this    period    touch    upon 


252 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


American  matters.  All  the  more  noteworthy  is  the  one 
\yhich  Mr.  Tenniel  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  President 
Garfield  at  the  time  of  the  latter's  assassination.  It  is  a 
worthy  example  of  the  artist's  most  serious  manner,  at  once 
dignified  and  impressive.  It  bears  the  inscription,  "  A  Com- 
mon Sorrow,"  and  shows  a  weeping  Columbia  clasped  closely 
in  the  arms  of  a  sorrowing  and  sympathetic  Britannia. 


SETTLING   THE    ALABAMA    CLAIMS. 


M.  Gambetta  seldom  received  attention  at  the  hands  of 
English  caricaturists;  but  in  1881,  when  the  resignation  of 
Jules  Ferry  and  his  colleagues  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a 
new  ministry  with  Gambetta  at  the  head,  and  both  English 
and  German  newspapers  were  sarcastically  saying  that  "  the 
Gambetta  Cabinet  represented  only  himself,"  Punch  had  to 
have  his  little  fling  at  the  French  statesman,  portraying  him 
as  beaming  with  self-complacence,  and  striking  an  attitude 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


253 


In  front  of  a  statue  of  Louis  XI\  .,  while  he  echoes  the  latter's 
famous  dictum,  "  L'Etat  c'est  moi !  " 

Two  cartoons  which  tell  their  own  story  are  dev^oted  to 
Fenianism.  The  first  commemorates  the  Phoenix  Park  out- 
rage in  which  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish,  the  newdy  appointed 
Chief  Secretary,  lost  his  life.  The  cartoon  is  called  "The 
Irish  Frankenstein,"  and  is  certainly  baleful  enough  to  do  full 


GORDON    WAITINi;    AT    KHARTOUM. 


justice  to  the  hideousncss  of  the  crime  it  is  intended  to  svm 
bolize.  J  he  second  cartoon,  entitleil  "  J  he  I  litlden  I  land,' 
shows  the  I'enian  monster  rcccixino  a  bao  of  ooKI  trom  ; 
mysterious  hand  stretchei!  trom  behind  a  curtain.  I  he  refer 
ence  is  to  a  supposetl  ninei-  eiicle  ol  assassins,  directed  ane 
paid  b\  greater  \illains  who  kept  themscK'CS  carefully  be 
hind  the  scenes. 

I  he  tragedy  oi    i\liartoum   tornied  the  subject  ol   sexera 


254  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

grim  and  forceful  pages.  "  Mirage  "  was  almost  prophetic 
in  its  conception,  representing  General  Gordon  gazing  across 
the  desert,  where,  by  the  tantalizing  refraction  of  the  air,  he 
can  plainly  see  the  advancing  British  hosts,  which  in  reality 
are  destined  to  arri\e  too  late.  "  Too  late,"  in  fact,  are  the 
verv  words  which  serve  as  a  caption  of  the  next  cartoon. 
Khartoum  has  fallen,  and  Britannia,  ha\'ing  come  upon  a 
fruitless  mission,  stands  a  picture  of  despair,  her  face  buried 
upon  her  arm,  her  useless  shield  lying  neglected  upon  the 
ground. 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

THOMAS    NAST 

IT  was  not  until  late  in  the  '6o's,  when  Thomas  Nast 
began  his  pictorial  campaign  in  the  pages  of  Harper's 
IJ^cckly  against  the  Ring  which  held  New  York  in  its 
clutches,  that  American  caricature  could  claim  a  pencil  which 
entitled  it  to  any  sort  of  consideration  from  the  artistic  point 
of  view.  Some  of  the  cartoons  which  have  been  reproduced 
in  earlier  papers  of  this  series  have  possessed  unquestionable 
clev^erness  of  in^-ention  and  idea;  for  instance,  many  of  those 
dealing  with  President  Jackson's  administration  and  his  re- 
lations with  the  United  States  Bank,  and  some  of  the  purely 
allegorical  cartoons  treating  of  sla^•ery  and  of  the  Civil  War. 
But  in  all  these  there  was  so  much  lacking;  so  many  artistic 
shortcomings  were  covered  up  by  the  convenient  loops.  The 
artists  felt  themselves  free  from  any  obligation  to  give  ex- 
pression to  the  countenances  of  their  subjects  so  long  as  the 
fundamental  idea  was  there,  and  the  loops  offered  an  easy 
vehicle  for  the  utterance  ot  thoughts  and  feelings  which  a 
modern  artist  would  feci  obligetl  to  express  in  the  drawing 
itself — by  a  skillful  (]uirk  of  the  pencil,  an  added  line,  an 
exaggerated  smile  or  frown.  It  was  a  thoroughK  wooden 
school  of  caricature,  in  which  one  can  find  no  trace  of  the 
splemlid  suggestion  which  the  caricaturists  should  at  that 
tunc  ha\e  been  tli-awinij;  from  contemporary  masters  of  the 
art  111   I- ranee  and   I'.ngland. 

Although  thinng  the  years  of  his  fecundit\'  Thomas  Nast 
drew    main    cartoons  hearing  on  e\  ents  ol    iiUcniatioiial   im- 

255 


256 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


portance,  his  name  will  always  be  remembered,  first  of  all, 
in  connection  with  the  series  through  which  he  held  up  the 
extravagances  and  iniquities  of  the  Tweed  Ring  in  the  pillory 
of  public  opinion.  He  had  decided  convictions  on  other  sub- 
jects. To  the  end  of  his  life  it  w^as  his  nature  to  feel  in- 
tenselv,  even  in  small  matters.  But  his  scorn  and  hatred  of 
the  corrupt  organization  that  was  looting  New  York  became 
a  positive  mania,  which  was  reflected  in  the  cartoons  which 
he  literally  hurled  week  after  week  against  Tweed  and  his 
satellites.     "  I  don't  care  what  they  write  about  me,"  said 


tup:  gratz  uKiiwN  TA(;  TO  Greeley's  coat. 
Tweed,  "  but  can't  you  stop  those  terrible  cartoons?  "  and  in 
the  end  they,  more  than  anything  else,  led  to  his  downfall, 
his  flight  and  his  capture  in  Spain,  where  he  was  recognized 


IIKJMAS     NAST. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


259 


by  the  police  through  the  likeness  Nast  had  drawn  of  him  as 
a  kidnaper.  But  in  recognizing  Nast's  services  in  behalf 
of  New  York  City  it  is  not  fair  to  overlook  his  work  as  a 


^^. 


'f^.i 


FIRST    APPEARANCE    OF   THE   CAP   AND    DINNER    PAIL 
AS    EMBLEMATIC    OF    LABOR. 

political  caricaturist  on  broader  issues.  To  him  we  owe  also 
the  Gratz  Brown  tag  to  Greeley's  coat  in  the  campaign  of 
1872,  the  "  Rag  Baby  of  Inflation/'  the  jackass  as  emblem- 
atic of  the  Democratic  Party,  the  Labor  Cap  and  the  Full 
Dinner  Pail,  which  in  later  years  were  so  much  developed 
by  the  cartoonists  of  Jiidi^c.  And  if  to-dav,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  twentieth  century,  we  ha\e  a  school  ot  caricature  which 
for  scope  and  craftsmanship  is  e(]ual,  if  not  superior,  to  that 
o\  any  nation  of  I'-urope,  it  is  onlv  just  to  rccogni/c  that  it 
was  Thomas  Nast  who  first  gave  American  caricature  a  dig- 
nity and  a  meaning. 


26o 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


The  earliest  Presidential  election  which  falls  within  the 
scope  of  the  present  chapter,  that  of  1872,  antedates  the  es- 
tablishment of  American  comic  weeklies.  The  central  figure 
in  the  few  caricatures  which  have  survived  from  that  year 
was,  of  course,  Horace  Greeley,  whose  candidacy  at  one  time 
was  thought  seriously  to  threaten  the  fortunes  of  the  Repub- 
lican Party.  The  caricatures  themselves,  with  the  exception 
of  those  drawn  by  Thomas  Nast,  show  little  improvement 
over  the  caricatures  which  were  executed  during  the  Civil 
War.  The  artists  relied  entirely  upon  the  traditional  loops 
to  make  them  intelligible  to  the  public,  and  the  features  of 
the  political  characters  portrayed  were  expressionless  and 
wooden.  One  of  the  best  of  this  series  was  drawn  in  support 
of  the  Horace  Greeley  candidacy.  Uncle  Sam  is  represented 
as  a  landlord  and  President  Grant  as  his  tenant,  a  shiftless 


THE    ITRST    "  KAG    liAIiY." 

widow  with  a  dog  at  her  heels  and  a  bottle  of  rum  in  the 
basket  on  her  arm.  The  Widow  Grant  has  come  to  ask  for 
a  new  lease.  "  Well,  Uncle  Sam,"  she  says,  "  I've  called  to 
see  if  you  will  let  me  have  the  White  House  for  four  years 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


261 


longer,  as  I  find  the  place  suits  me  very  well."  "  No,  Marm 
Grant,"  retorts  Uncle  Sam,  shaking  his  head,  "  I  reckon  I'll 
do  no  such  thing.  I've  had  too  many  complaints  about  you 
from  the  neighbors  during  the  last  four  years.  I'm  just  sick 
of  you  and  your  tobacco  smoke  and  bull  pups,  so  I've  given 


/J  O 


//t^-^^-^^o 


4-u^ 


^)H^  im 


THE    DONKEY.        FIRST     USED    TO    RIDICULE   THE    IN- 
FLATION   TENDENCY. 

the  lease  to  Honest  Horace  Greeley,  who  will  take  better  care 
of  the  place  than  you  have." 

In  another  of  this  series  Horace  Greeley  is  represented  as 
the  entering  wedge  that  is  splitting  the  rock  of  the  Republican 
Party.  Greeley,  with  a  paper  bearing  the  words  "  Free 
Trade  "  in  one  hand  and  one  bearing  "  Protection  "  in  the 
other,  is  being  hammered  into  the  cleft  in  the  Republican 
rock  by  a  huge  mallet — Democratic  Nomination — wielded 
by  Carl  Schurz.  "  This  is  rather  a  novel  position  for  a 
stanch  old  Republican  like  me,"  he  says.  "  I  begin  to  feel 
as  if  I  was  in  a  tight  place."  President  Grant,  with  a  cigar 
in  his  hand,  is  looking  on  complacently.      "  My  friend,"  he 


262 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


calls  out  to  Schurz,  "  you've  got  a  soft  thing  on  your  wedge, 
but  your  mallet  will  kill  the  man."  To  which  Schurz  re- 
plies: "  I  don't  care  who's  killed,  if  we  succeed  in  defeating 
your  election."  Below,  creeping  furtively  about  the  rock,  are 
the  hgures  of  Dana,  Sumner,  Gratz  Brown,  Trumbull,  Hall, 
Sweeny,  Tweed,  and  Hoffman  of  the  Ring.  "  Anything  to 
beat  Grant!  "  is  the  cry  of  these  conspirators.  "  Honesty  is 
the  word  to  shout,  there  are  so  many  rogues  about,"  mutters 
Tweed.  "  Oh,  how  freely  we'll  win  with  Greeley,"  says 
Hall.  "  Anything  to  beat  Grant.  He  wouldn't  make  me 
Collector  for  New  York,"  are  the  words  of  Dana.  The  car- 
toon is  a  belated  specimen  of  the  school  of  American  cari- 
cature which  was  in  vogue  in  the  days  of  President  Jackson. 
As  has  already  been  stated.  Puck  was  not  founded  until 
1877,  too  late  to  take  part  in  the  Tilden-Hayes  campaign. 
When  v/e  speak  of  Puck,  however,  we  refer,  of  course,  to  the 


THK     IIKAINS    OF    TAMMANY. 


edition  printed  in  English,  for,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  twenty- 
four  numbers  of  a  German  Puck  were  published  during  the 
year  1876. 

As  that  year  was  an  important  one  in  American  history, 
these  numbers  can  by  no  means  be  ignored,  and  despite  their 


::::  c  p>  o  ::i 


264 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


crude  appearance  when  contrasted  with  the  Puck  of  later 
days,  they  contain  some  of  Keppler's  most  admirable  work. 
For  instance,  there  is  the  figure  of  the  tattooed  Columbia,  the 
precursor  of  Gillam's  famous  Tattooed  Man.  This  figure  ap- 


JfcM»:s  I.'t'    • 


11  A  jAmt^t 


Aurh  f >nf  ^^"'^''■'''-    .•■' 


Co!lMl)ia .  W(M  aiUlwirtli  in  jitsa  W(i!i  \:rlaiu\,  tt  mn  a  (rHi  iMlapMM  Cmmahon  la  5n»  J'jaJM— 


THE    TATTOOED     COLUMIilA. 
By  courtesy  of  the  Puck  Company. 

peared  in  Nov^ember,  1 876,  and  was  the  idea  of  Charles  Hau- 
ser,  a  member  of  the  first  editorial  staff  of  the  young  weekly. 
The  artist's  idea  of  the  unhappy  condition  of  our  nation  is 
shown  in  the  hideous  tattooed  designs  with  which  Columbia's 
body  is  scarred  from  head  to  foot.  We  can  read  "  Whisky 
Ring,"  "  Black  Friday,"  "  Secession,"  "  Tammany,"  "  Elec- 
tion Frauds,"  "  Corruption,"  "  Civil  War,"  "  Credit 
Mobilier,"  and  "  Taxes."  The  figure  is  as  repulsive  as  that 
which  eight  years  later  drove  Mr.  Blaine  to  frenzy. 


r 


.<;Ss<g5^^ 


H 

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GL 

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H 

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z 


Q- 


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266 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


YOU  PAYS  YOUR  MO.NEY  AND  YOU  TAKES  YOUR  CHOICE. 


BtUi,  :i  Ml  1  n  Wa  Trln  N^  a 

■Of  'lA  ».T  RNM  fti  ttiftill  ki  «rqr-4r*  iatUMn 

».!.*,.,.      n^  M  .c  kill  Ufk  wl^   i 

i>*  ••  I,  MII«0.  ill*  ■  IWln    -  IfT^mt 

»i.^  M-im 


/>■_>'  courtesy  of  the  Puck  Company. 


A  familiar  device  in  the  caricature  of  the  later  '70's  was 
that  of  representing  political  figures  as  heing  headless  and 
placing  their  heads  in  another  part  of  the  picture,  so  that 
you  might  adjust  them  to  suit  yourself.  In  this  way  the  artist 
did  not  commit  himself  to  prophecy  and  was  enahled  to  please 
both  parties.  For  instance,  an  excellent  example  of  this  is 
shown  in  the  cartoon  called  "  You  Pays  Your  Money  and 
You  Takes  Your   Choice,"   drawn  by   Keppler   during  the 


is 


^ 


.V. 


268  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

campaign  of  1876.  Of  the  two  headless  figures  one  is  seated 
In  the  window  of  the  White  House  gesticulating  derisively 
at  his  beaten  opponent.  The  other,  thoroughly  crushed  and 
with  a  nose  of  frightfully  exaggerated  length — both  Mr. 
Tllden  and  Mr.  Hayes  were  rather  large-nosed  men — Is 
leaning  helplessly  against  the  wall  of  the  cold  outside.  At 
the  bottom  of  the  picture  are  the  heads  of  the  two  candidates, 
which  one  might  cut  out  and  adjust  as  pleased  himself. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  OF    1880  AND    1 884 

PROBABLY  no  cartoon  dealing  with  the  Garfield- 
Hancock  campaign  of  1880  was  more  widely  dis- 
cussed than  that  callecl  "  Forbidding  the  Banns," 
drawn  for  Puck  by  Keppler.  It  was  a  cartoon  which  an 
American  comic  paper  would  publish  to-day  only  after  con- 
siderable hesitation,  for  there  was  in  it  the  spirit  of  a  less 
delicate  age,  a  coarseness  which  was  pardonable  only  when 
the  genuine  strength  and  humor  of  the  complete  work  are 
taken  into  consideration.  "  Forbidding  the  Banns"  shows  a 
political  wedding  party  at  the  altar  with  Uncle  Sam  as  the 
reluctant  and  uncomfortable  groom.  General  Garfield  as  the 
eager  bride,  and  the  figure  of  the  ballot  box  as  the  officiating 
clergyman.  7"he  bridesmaids  are  Mr.  Whitelaw  Reld  and 
Carl  Schurz,  with  Murat  Halstead  bringing  up  the  rear. 
The  ceremony  is  well  along  and  the  contracting  parties 
are  about  to  be  united  when  W.  H.  Barnum,  the  chair- 
man of  the  Democratic  National  Committee,  rushes  in 
shouting,  "  I  forbid  the  banns!  "  and  wa\ing  Iranticallv  the 
figure  of  a  little  baby  marked  "  Crctiit  Mobilicr."  \  he 
faces  of  all  the  bridal  party  show  consternation  at  the  unex- 
pected interruption,  while  the  bride  protests  coyly:  "  But  it 
was  such  a  little  one." 

rile  defeat  of  (ieneral  1  lancock  in  1880  was  cominein- 
orated  hy  kcpplcr  111  l^ink  witli  tlu'  cai'loon  calk'cl  "  I  lie 
Wake  f)\er  tlir  l\ciiiniiis  of  the  Democratic  Part\."  I  he 
ludicrous  corpse  ol  the  iletuiut  is  stretelieil  on  a  rough  board 

209 


2 

< 

o 
'_> 


3 
w 

a! 


o  ^ 


<  c^ 


Z 


■J 
z 

3 

O 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  271 

and  covered  with  a  loose  sheet.  The  hghted  candles  at  the 
four  corners  protrude  from  the  necks  of  bottles,  and  the 
mourners  are  indulging  in  a  protracted  carouse  which  seems 
destined  to  end  in  a  free  fight.  In  the  center  of  the  picture 
Kelly,  with  Ben  Butler  as  a  partner,  is  doing  a  dance  in  the 
most  approved  manner  of  Donnybrook  Fair.  All  about  there 
is  the  general  atmosphere  of  turmoil  and  unnatural  excite- 
ment, but  the  figures  of  Hewitt,  Davis,  Belmont,  and  English 
are  stretched  out  in  a  manner  indicating  that  the  festivities 
of  the  night  have  proved  too  much  for  them. 

As  has  already  been  pointed  out,  the  political  caricature 
commemorating  the  Cleveland-Blaine  campaign  of  1884 
was  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  extraordinary  rancor.  There 
was  little,  if  any,  really  good-natured  satire  underlying  these 
cartoons;  they  were  designed  and  executed  vindictively,  and 
their  main  object  was  to  hurt.  Mr.  Cleveland's  official 
record  in  Buffalo,  and  as  Governor  of  New  York,  had  been 
such  as  to  cause  many  of  the  more  liberal  Republicans  to  sup- 
port his  candidacy  and  offered  little  to  the  political  cartoonist, 
so  the  opponents  of  Republican  caricature  found  it  expedient 
to  base  their  attacks  on  matters  of  purely  personal  nature. 

Even  in  later  years  the  cartoonist  did  not  entirely  refrain 
from  this  method  of  belittling  Mr.  Cleveland's  capabilities. 
It  was  sneeringly  said  that  much  of  the  success  ot  his  ad- 
ministraticjn  was  due  to  the  charm,  the  tact,  and  the  personal 
magnetism  of  Mrs.  Cle\-eKuui,  and  this  itlea  was  the  inspira- 
tion of  a  number  of  cartoons  which  were  far  from  being  in 
the  best  ot  taste.  One  ot  these  which  was  not  particularlx 
offensive  was  that  enritled  "  Mr.  Clexehiiid's  Best  Card."  Ir 
was  simpiv  a  huge  phulng  carii  liearing  the  picture  of  Mrs. 
Cleveland.  Another  iiuieh  more  obnoxious  was  a  curious 
imitation  of  the   famous   I'reiich   cartoon   "  Partant  pt)ur  la 


o 

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O 

2 

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CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


^n 


A    COMMON    SORROW. 


Syrie,"  which  was  published  in  Paris  after  the  flight  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie. 

The  Democratic  cartoonists,  besides  their  use  of  the  Tat- 
tooed Man  idea  and  the  alleged  scandals  in  Mr.  Blaine's 
political  career,  made  a  strong  point  of  the  soundness  and 
cleanness  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  official  record.  A  typical  cari- 
cature of  this  nature  was  that  drawn  bv  Ciillam  called  "  Why 
7  hey  Dislike  Him."  it  represents  .Mr.  Clc\  eland  as  a  lion 
lying  on  the  rock  of  Cixil  Service  Reform.  Perched  on  the 
limb  ot  a  tree  oxerhead  arc  a  group  ot  chattering  monkeys, 
his  political  enemies,  who  are  hurling  at  him  imprecations 
ami  abuse  because  he  will  not  consent  to  ser\e  as  the  cats- 
paw  to  pluck  the  chestnuts  loi-  them  out  ot  the  [lolitical  lire. 


^ 


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CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  2Tj 

Familiar  faces  among  the  group  of  noisy  bandar-log  are  those 
of  Croker,  Butler,  and  Dana.  Prostrate  and  helpless  under 
the  paw  of  the  lion  is  a  monkey  with  the  face  of  Grady. 

The  most  terrible  and  effective  series  of  cartoons  published 
during  the  Cleveland-Blaine  campaign  was  that  in  which  the 
Republican  candidate  appeared  as  the  Tattooed  Man  in  the 
political  show.  For  many  weeks  during  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  18S4  Mr.  Blaine  was  assailed  through  this  figure 
in  the  pages  of  Puck.  The  story  of  the  origin  of  this  his- 
toric cartoon  is  as  follows:  Mr.  Bernard  Gillam,  the  artist, 
had  conceived  the  idea  of  a  cartoon  in  which  each  of  the 
Presidential  possibilities  should  appear  as  some  sort  of  freak 
in  a  political  side-show.  One  of  these  freaks  was  to  be  the 
Tattooed  Man,  but  Mr.  Gillam  at  first  hit  upon  David 
Davis  as  the  person  to  be  so  represented.  He  was  describing 
the  proposed  cartoon  one  day  in  the  office  of  Puck  when  Mr. 
Runner,  who  was  at  that  time  the  editor,  turned  suddenly 
and  said:  "David  Davis?  Nonsense!  Blaine  is  the  man 
tor  that."  The  cartoon  so  concei\"ed  was  splendidlv  exe- 
cuted, and  became  one  of  the  great  pictorial  factors  in  turn- 
ing the  scale  of  the  election.  It  stirred  Mr.  Blaine  himself 
to  a  point  where  he  resolved  to  prosecute  the  publishers  of 
Puck,  and  was  persuaded  from  this  course  only  by  the  very 
strongest  pressure.  The  tattoo  marks  which  were  most  ob- 
noxious to  him  were  those  which  spelled  out  the  word  "  V>\\- 
bery."  A  curious  feature  of  this  series  was  that  Mr.  Bernard 
CJillam  was  an  ardent  Republican,  \-oting  for  Mr.  Blaine  on 
election  day,  and  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  executing 
the  I  attooed  Man  cartoon  In  Puck  was  suggesting  equally 
\intlictive  caricatures  of  Mr.  Cle\elantl  and  the  Democratic 
party  for  the  ri\  al  pages  of  Judge. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF    JOURNALISM 

IX  looking  backward  over  a  century  of  caricature,  it  is 
interesting  to  ask  just  what  it  is  that  makes  the  radical 
difference  between  the  cartoon  of  to-day  and  that  of 
a  hundred  years  ago.  That  there  is  a  wide  gulf  between  the 
comparative  restraint  of  the  modern  cartoonist  and  the  un- 
bridled license  of  Gillray's  or  Rowlandson's  grotesque,  gar- 
goyle types,  is  self-evident;  that  comic  art,  as  applied  to 
politics,  is  to-day  more  widespread,  more  generally  appre- 
ciated, and  in  a  quiet  way  more  effective  in  molding  public 
opinion  than  ever  before,  needs  no  argument.  And  yet,  if 
one  stops  to  analyze  the  individual  cartoons,  to  take  them 
apart  and  discover  the  essence  of  their  humor,  the  incisive 
edge  of  their  irony  and  satire,  one  finds  that  there  is  nothing 
really  new  in  them;  that  the  basic  principles  of  caricature 
were  all  understood  as  well  in  the  eighteenth  century  as  in 
the  nineteenth,  and  that,  in  many  cases,  the  successful  cartoon 
of  to-day  is  simply  the  replica  of  an  old  one  of  a  past  genera- 
tion, modified  to  Ht  a  new  set  of  facts.  When  Gilbert  Stuart 
drew  his  famous  "  Gerrymander  "  cartoon,  he  was  probably 
not  the  first  artist  to  avail  himself  of  the  chance  resemblance 
of  the  geographical  contour  of  a  state  or  country  to  some 
person  or  animal.  He  certainly  was  not  the  last.  Again  and 
again  the  map  of  the  United  States  has  been  drawn  so  as  to 
bring  out  some  significant  similarity,  as  recently  when  it  was 
distorted  into  a  ludicrous  semblance  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  bend- 
ing low   in   proud   humility,   the   living  embodiment  of  the 

278 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


279 


A    GERMAN    IDEA    OF    IKISII    HOME    KUI.E. 


principle,  IJEtat  c'cst  Moi;  or  again,  just  before  our  war 
with  Spain,  when  it  was  so  drawn  as  to  present  a  capital  like- 
ness of  Uncle  Sam,  the  Atlantic  and  (nilf  States  forming 
his  nose  and  mouth,  the  latter  suggestively  opened  to  take 
in  Cuba,  which  is  swimming  dangerously  near.  Puck's 
famous  "Tattooed  Man  "  was  onlv  a  new  application  ot  an 
idea  that  hail  been  used  before;  while  tbe  representation  ot  a 
group  of  leading  politicians  as  members  ot  a  Ireak  show,  a 
circus,  or  a  minstrel  troop,   is  as  oKl   as  minstrels  or  dime 


SMi'a'„t."y a  sert  aUTZ.  i '  «.*«>r*«"!''«^  ■ 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


281 


museums  themselves.  Few  leading  statesmen  of  the  past 
half  century  have  not  at  some  time  in  their  career  been  por- 
trayed as  Hamlet,  or  Macbeth,  or  Richard  III.;  while  as 
for  the  conventional  use  of  animals  and  symbolic  figures  to 
represent  the  diflerent  nations,  the  British  Lion  and  the 
Russian  Bear,  Uncle  Sam  and  French  Liberty,  these  belong 
to  the  raw  materials  of  caricature,  dating  back,  to  its  very  in- 
ception as  an  art.  And  yet,  while  the  means  used  are  essen- 
tially the  same  as  in  the  days  of  Hogarth  and  Cruikshank, 
the  results  are  radically  different. 

The  reason  for  this  difference  may  be  summed  up  in  a 
single  word — Journalism.  The  modern  cartoon  is  essen- 
tially journalistic,  both  in  spirit  and  in  execution.  The  spas- 
modic single  sheets  of  Gillray's  period,  huge  lithographs  that 


\,-: 


HORATIUS    CLEVELAND    AT   THE   BRIDGE. 
/•Vow  jX,''u   Vor/j  ''Life." 

lound  their  \\  a\  to  the  public  thiv)ugh  the  medium  ot  1  .ondon 
print  shops,  were  long  ago  i-ephiced  b\  the  weekK  comic 
papers,  while  to-da\'  these  in  turn  tiiul  toniiulable  rnals  111 
the  cartoons  which  ha\e  become  a  teatiire  ot  most  ol  the  lead- 


282 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


ing  daily  journals.  The  celerity  with  which  a  caricature  is 
now  conceived  and  executed,  thanks  to  the  modern  mechan- 
ical improvements  and  the  prevailing  spirit  of  alertness, 
makes  it  possible  for  the  cartoonist  to  keep  pace  with  the 
news  of  the  day,  to  seize  upon  the  latest  political  blunder,  the 
social  fad  of  the  moment,  and  hit  it  off  with  a  stroke  of  in- 
cisive irony,  without  fear  that  it  will  be  forgotten  before  the 


BERNARD    GILLAM    OF    "JUU(;E. 

drawing  can  appear  in  print.  The  consequences  of  all  this 
modern  haste  and  enterprise  are  not  wholly  advantageous. 
Real  talent  is  often  wasted  upon  mediocre  ideas  under  the 
compulsion  of  producing  a  daily  cartoon,  and  again  a  really 
brilliant  conception  is  marred  by  overhaste  in  execution,  a 
lack  of  artistic  finish  in  the  detail.  Besides,  the  tendency  of  a 
large  part  of  contemporary  cartoons  is  toward  the  local  and 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


283 


JUSEl'H    KEI'PLER    OF    "  PUCK. 


'•  i>iTrK   " 


the  ephemeral.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  caricatures 
which  appear  during  an  American  political  campaign,  in 
which  every  petty  blunder,  every  local  issue,  every  bit  of  per- 
sonal gossip,  is  magnified  into  a  vital  national  principle,  a 
world-wide  scandal.  And  when  the  morning  after  the  elec- 
tion dawns,  the  business  settles  down  into  its  wonted  channel, 
these  momentous  issues,  and  the  Hambovant  cartoons  which 
proclaimed  them,  suddenK'  become  as  tn\ial  and  as  empty  as 
a  spent  firecracker  or  Roman  candle. 

I^ut  another  change  which  the  spirit  of  journahsm  has 
wrought  III  tile  coiitcm[)orar\  cartoon,  and  a  more  \  ital 
change  than  an\'  other,  is  tluc  to  the  detinitc  editorial  jiohcv 
which  hcs  bchnul  it.  I  lu'  dominant  note  in  all  the  work  of 
the  great  cai^toonlsts  ol  the  |)ast,  in  the  I'nglish  (iilli-a\   and 


284  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

the  French  Daumier,  was  the  note  of  individuahsm.  Take 
away  the  personal  rancor,  the  almost  irrational  hatred  of 
"  Little  Boney  "  from  Gillray,  take  away  Daumier's  mordant 
irony,  his  fearless  contempt  for  Louis  Philippe,  and  the  life 
of  their  work  is  gone.  The  typical  cartoon  of  to-day  is,  to  a 
large  extent,  not  a  one-man  production  at  all.  It  is  fre- 
quently built  up,  piecemeal,  one  detail  at  a  time,  and  in  the 
case  of  a  journal  like  Punch  or  Judge  or  Life  often  represents 
the  thoughtful  collaboration  of  the  entire  staff.  In  the  case 
of  the  leading  dailies,  the  cartoon  must  be  in  accord  w^th  the 
settled  political  policy  of  the  paper,  as  much  as  the  leading 
articles  on  the  editorial  page.  The  individual  preferences 
of  the  cartoonist  do  not  count.  In  fact,  he  may  be  doing 
daily  violence  to  his  settled  convictions,  or  he  may  find  means 
of  espousing  both  sides  at  once,  as  was  the  case  with  Mr. 
Gillam,  who  throughout  the  Cleveland-Blaine  campaign 
was  impartially  drawing  Democratic  cartoons  for  Puck  and 
suggesting  Republican  cartoons  for  Judge  at  the  same  time. 

What  the  political  cartoon  will  become  in  the  future,  it  is 
dangerous  to  predict.  There  is,  however,  every  indication 
that  its  influence,  instead  of  diminishing,  is  likely  to  increase 
steadily.  What  it  has  lost  in  ceasing  to  be  the  expression  of 
the  individual  mind,  the  impulsive  product  of  erratic  genius, 
it  has  more  than  gained  in  its  increased  timeliness,  its  greater 
sobrietv,  its  more  sustained  and  definite  purpose.  At 
certain  epochs  in  the  past  it  has  served  as  a  vehicle 
for  reckless  scandal-mongering  and  scurrilous  personal 
abuse.  But  this  it  seems  to  have  happily  outgrown. 
That  pictorial  satire  may  be  m.ade  forceful  without  the  sacri- 
fice of  dignity  was  long  ago  demonstrated  by  Tenniel's  pow- 
erful work  in  the  pages  of  Punch.  And  there  is  no  doubt 
that  a  serious  political  issue,  when  presented  in  the  form  of 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  285 

a  telling  cartoon,  will  be  borne  home  to  the  minds  of  a  far 
larger  circle  of  average  everv-day  men  and  women  than  it 
ever  could  be  when  discussed  in  the  cold  black  and  white  of 
the  editorial  column. 

Another  interesting  effect  of  the  growing  conservative 
spirit  in  caricature  is  seen  in  the  gradual  crystallization  of 
certain  definite  symbolic  types.     Allusion  has  already  been 


TllK    JOHN    HULL    OCTOPUS    IX     KC.YI'T. 

frojii  "  Jl  /'apii,i^allo  "  i Koine). 

made,  in  earlier  chapters  of  this  work,  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  conception  ot  John  Bull  and  Uncle  Sam  and  other 
analogous  types,  has  been  gradualU  built  up  b\  almost  imper- 
ceptible degrees,  each  artist  |irescr\ing  all  the  essential  work 
ot  his  predecessor,  and  adihng  a  certain  iiulctinable  some- 
thuig  ot  his  own,  until  a  certain  definite  portrait  lias  been  pro- 
duced,  a  pcniKincnt  ideal,   \Nhosc  characlcristic   features  the 


286 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


cartoonists  of  the  future  could  no  more  alter  arbitrarily  than 
they  could  the  features  of  Bismarck  or  Gladstone.  And  not 
only  have  these  crystallized  types  become  accepted  bv  the 
nation  at  large, — not  only  is  Uncle  Sam.  the  same  familiar 
figure,  tall  and  lanky,  from  the  New  York  Puck  to  the  San 
Francisco  JJ\isp, — but  gradually  these  national  types  have 
migrated  and  crossed  the  seas,  and  to-day  they  are  the  com- 


A   HAND    ACJAINST    EVERY    MAN. 
Fro7n  London  '^Judy,"  April ij,  i8q2. 


mon  property  of  comic  artists  of  all  nations.  John  Bull  and 
the  Russian  Bear,  Columbia  and  the  American  Eagle,  are 
essentially  the  same,  whether  we  meet  them  in  the  press  of 
Canada,  Australia,  Cape  Colony,  or  the  United  States.  And 
for  the  very  reason  that  there  is  so  little  variety  in  the  obvious 
features,  the  mere  physical  contour,  the  subtler  differences 
due  to  race  prejudice  and  individual  limitations  are  all  the 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


287 


THE    STAIIII.ITY    OF     I  H  K     IKll'I.E    ALLIANCE. 

From  "  /I  Papdffa/lo"  (Rome). 

more  significant  and  interesting.  There  are  cases,  and  com- 
paratively recent  cases,  too,  where  race-prejudice  has  found 
expression  in  such  rampant  and  illogical  violence  as  prompted 
many  of  the  Spanish  cartoons  during  our  recent  war  over 
Cuba,  in  which  Americans  were  regularly  portrayed  as  hogs 
— big  hogs  and  little  hogs,  S(Miie  in  hog-pens,  others  running 
at  large — but  (jnc  and  all  ot  them  as  hogs.  \\\q  cartoonists 
of  the  Continent,  Prenchmen,  (jernians,  and  Italians  alike, 
ha\-e  difficultv  in  accepting  the  Anglo-Saxon  t\  pe  of  lohn 
Bull,  instead,  they  usuallv  portrax  him  as  a  sort  of  sad- 
faced  tra\-est\'  upon  Lord  I)u!ulrcar\-,  a  tall,  lank,  nuich 
bewhiskered  "  milord,"  tatniliar  to  pati'ons  ot  Continental 
farce-comedy.  I)ut  it  is  nor  in  cases  likr  these  that  race 
prejudice  becomes  interesting.      There   is  nothing  suhilc  or 


288  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

suggestive  in  mere  vituperation,  whether  verbal  or  pictorial, 
any  more  than  in  the  persistent  representation  of  a  nation 
by  a  type  which  is  no  sense  representative.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  subtle  variations  of  expression  in  the  John  Bull  of 
contemporary  American  artists,  or  the  Uncle  Sam  of  British 
caricature,  will  repay  careful  study.  They  form  a  sort  of 
sensitive  barometer  of  public  sentiment  in  the  two  countries, 
and  excepting  during  the  rare  periods  of  exceptional  good 
feeling  there  is  always  in  the  Englishman's  conception  of 
Uncle  Sam  a  scarce-concealed  suggestion  of  crafty  malice  in 
place  of  his  customary  kindly  shrewdness,  while  conversely, 
our  portrayal  of  John  Bull  is  only  too  apt  to  convert  that 
bluff,  honest-hearted  country  gentleman  into  a  sort  of  arro- 
gant blusterer,  greedy  for  gain,  yet  showing  the  vein  of  cow- 
ardice distinctive  of  the  born  bully. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

YEARS  OF  TURBULENCE 

IX  marked  contrast  to  the  preceding  lengthy  period  of 
tranquillity,  the  closing  decade  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury witnessed  a  succession  of  wars  and  international 
crises  well  calculated  to  stimulate  the  pencils  of  every  cartoon- 
ist w^orthy  of  the  name.  One  has  only  to  recall  that  to  this 
period  belong  the  conflict  between  China  and  Japan,  the  brief 
clash  between  Greece  and  7\irkey,  the  beginning  of  our  policy 
of  expansion,  with  the  annexation  of  Hawaii,  our  own  war 
with  Spain,  and  England's  protracted  struggle  in  the  Trans- 
vaal, to  realize  how  rich  in  stirring  events  these  few  years 
have  been,  and  what  opportunities  they  offer  for  dramatic 
caricature. 

A  cartoon  produced  in  an  earlier  chapter,  entitled 
"  Waiting,"  showed  General  Gordon  gazing  anxiously  across 
the  desert  at  the  mirage  which  was  conjured  up  by  his 
fe\-ered  brain,  taking  the  clouds  of  the  horizon  to  be  the 
guns  of  the  approaching  British  army  of  relief.  Early  in 
1881;  the  relief  expedition  started  under  the  command  of 
General  Henry  Stewart,  and  on  I'chruarv  7  there 
was  published  in  Punch  the  famous  cartoon  "  At  East," 
showing  the  meeting  between  Gordon  and  the  relieving 
general.  This  was  a  famous  Pitiuh  slip.  That  meeting 
nex'er  occurretl.  lor  on  lehruai-\  ;,  two  tla\s  iKtore  the 
appearance  of  the  issue  contamuig  the  cartoon,  Khartoum 
had  been  taken  In  thr  Maluil.  I  he  tollowing  week  I  enniel 
followetl  uj-t  "  At  East"  with  the  cartoon  "Too  Late."  which 

?.8y 


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a:; 


AT   LAST! 


"  TOO     LATK : 


A  Punch  slip  :  a  cartoon  published  in         TeL'gram,    Thiirsdav    Morning,    Feb. 
anticipation  of  an  event  which  did  not  j.~"  Khartoum  taken  by  the  Mahdi.    Gen- 
occur— viz., the  meeting  of  General  Gor-  eral  Gordon's  fate  uncertain." 
don  and  General  Stewart  at  Khartoum. 

By  Teiiniel,  February  7,  iSSs.  By  Tciiiih'!,  Ft  brnary  14,  iSSj. 


1I1I-;    1,i)N1)(JjN    "    IIMI.S        .\M)     illK    .sllKIolS     I'AKNKl.I.    l.K.TTKKS. 


29- 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


tenniels  fam(1us  cartoon  at  the  time  uk 
Bismarck's  retirement. 


showed  the  Mahdi  and  his  fanatic  following  pouring  into 
Khartoum,  while  stricken  Britannia  covers  her  eyes. 

The  Times  challenge  to  Charles  Stewart  Parnell  was,  of 
course,  recorded  in  the  caricature  of  Piiucli.  The  "  Thun- 
derer," it  will  be  remembered,  published  letters,  which  it 
believed  to  be  genuine,  involving  Parnell  in  the  murders  of 
Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  and  Mr.  Burke  in  Phoenix  Park, 
Dublin,  in  18S2.  When  these  letters  were  proved  to  hav^e 
been  forged  by  Pigot,  Punch  published  a  cartoon  showing 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


293 


the  Times  doing  penance.  Both  of  these  cartoons  were  by 
Tenniel.  "  The  Challenge  "  appeared  in  the  issue  of  April 
30,  1887,  and  "Penance"  almost  two  years  later,  March 
9,  1889. 

A  cartoon  which  marked  TennieTs  genius  at  its  height,  a 
cartoon  worthy  of  being  ranked  with  that  which  depicted 
the  British  Eion's  vengeance  on  the  Bengal  Tiger  after  the 
atrocities  of  the  Sepoy  rebellion,  was  his  famous  "  Dropping 
the  Pilot,"  which  was  published  on  March  29,  1890,  after 
William  II.  of  Germany  had  decided  to  dispense  with  the 
services  of  the  Iron  Chancellor.      Over  the  side  of  the  ship 


I   KM  AN  I     I  i:i;kiiii  k. 

The  liacearal  Scandal  at  Traiihy  Crol't  in  1891. 

/■'roiii  "  ruck." 


294  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

of  state  the  young  Emperor  is  leaning  complacently  looking 
down  on  the  grim  old  pilot,  who  has  descended  the  ladder  and 
is  about  to  step  into  the  boat  that  is  to  bear  him  ashore.  The 
original  sketch  of  this  cartoon  was  finished  by  Tenniel  as  a 


WILLIAM     BLUEBEARD. 

"  My  first  two  wives  are  dead.     Take  care, 
Hohenlohe,  lest  the  same  fate  overtake  you." 
From  "  La  Silhoiieffe'^  (Paris). 

commission  from  Lord  Rosebery,  who  gave  it  to  Bismarck. 
The  picture  is  said  to  have  pleased  both  the  Emperor  and  the 
Prince. 

1  he  baccarat  scandal  at  Tranby  Croft  and  the  subsequent 
trial  at  which  the  then  Prince  of  Wales  was  present  as  a 
witness  was  a  rich  morsel  for  the  caricaturist  in  the  early 
summer  of  1891.  Not  only  in  England,  but  on  the  Con- 
tinent and  in  this  country,  the  press  was  full  of  jibes  and 
banter  at  the  Prince's  expense.     The  German  comic  paper, 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


295 


XJlk,  suggested  pictorially  a  new  coat-of-arms  for  his  Royal 
Highness  in  which  various  playing  cards,  dice,  and  chips  were 
much  in  evidence.  In  another  issue  the  same  paper  gives 
a  German  reading  from  Shakspere  in  which  it  censures  the 
Prince  in  much  the  same  manner  that  Falstaff  censured  the 
wild  Harry  of  Henry  IV.  The  London  cartoonists  all  had 
their  slings  with  varying  good  nature.  Fiiii  represented  the 
Prince  as  the  Prodigal  Son  being  forgiven  by  the  paternal 
British  nation.  Point  to  this  cartoon  was  given  by  the  fact 
that  the  pantomime  "  L'Enfant  Prodigue  "  was  being  played 
at  the  time  in  the  Prince  of  Wales'  Theater.  The  Pall  Mall 
Budget  showed  the  Queen  and  the  Heir  Apparent  enjoying  a 
quiet  evenmg  over  the  card  table  at  home.  The  Prince  is 
saying:  "  Ah,  well !  I  must  give  up  baccarat  and  take  to  crib- 
bage  with  mamma." 

Moons/ii)i(\   in   a   cartoon   entitled   "  Aren't  they    Rather 


II  KIM  I  AMI  \ 

An  exact  copy  oj  a  Chinese  native  cartoon. 


A'.n    I  III     i;ii;i,i':   in   china. 
Reproduced  in  the  Haii  /■'raiicisij 


litis/'.''  Jan.  .?,  iS()2 


296 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


Overdoing  it?"  took  a  kindlier  and  a  more  charitable  view 
of  the  whole  affair.  His  Royal  Highness  is  explaining  the 
matter  to  a  most  horrible  looking  British  Pharisee.  "  Don't 
be  too  hard  on  me,  Mr.  Stiggins,"  he  says.  "  I  am  not  such 
a  bad  sort  of  a  fellow,  on  the  whole.  You  mustn't  believe 
all  that  you  read  in  the  papers."    The  nature  of  the  American 


•ff 


'■Vvv 


^':k~. 


•*'.<'  '■ 


0       -^ 


/       I 


\ 


V, 


"^.^ 


^^ 


JAPAX — "DOES    IT    HURT    UP    THERE?" 
From  "'  Kiddderadatsch.'" 

caricature  of  the  scandal  may  be  understood  from  the  cartoon 
which  we  reproduce  from  Puck.  This  cartoon  speaks  for 
itself. 

The  Emperor  William  and  his  chancellors  inspired  La 
Silhouette,  of  Paris,  to  a  very  felicitous  cartoon  entitled 
"  William  Bluebeard."     William  is  warning  Hohenlohe  and 


BUSlNEbb   AT    THIC    DEATH-BED — UiN'CI.E    SAM    AS     UNDERTAKER. 
Fyom  "  KtadderaJatscli  "  (^BerluO- 


111.    SlAkl-     KDK    Till'.     CHINA    (IT. 
/■'nun  "  Moonsliiiit'"  (  /.ondon). 


298 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


pointing  to  a  closet  in  which  are  hanging  the  bodies  of  Bis- 
marck and  Caprivi,  robed  in  feminine  apparel.  "  My  first 
two  wlv^es  are  dead,"  says  Bluebeard.  "  Take  care, 
Hohenlohe,  lest  the  same  fate  overtake  you  !  " 

The  increase  in  European  armament  in  1892  suggested  to 
Tenniel  the  idea  of  the  cartoon  "  The  Road  to  Ruin,"  which 
appeared  November  5  of  that  year.  It  shows  the  figures 
of  two  armed  horsemen,  France  and  Germany,  each  bur- 
dened with  armies  of  four  million  men,  riding  along  "  The 
Road  to  Ruin."      Their  steeds,  weighed  down  by  the  burdens 


TABLEAU. 

End  of  the  Chinese-Japanese  War. 
From  Toronto  "  Grip." 

they  bear,  are  faltering  in  their  strides.  A  cartoon  published 
shortly  afterwards  in  the  London  Fidi  shows  the  figure  of 
Peace  welcoming  the  emperors  of  Germany  and  Austria,  and 
urging  them  hospitably  to  lay  aside  their  sword-belts. 
"  Thanks,  Madam,"  rejoins  Kaiser  Wilhelm,  "  but  we  would 
rather  retain  them — in  vour  behalf!  " 

The  brief  war  between  China  and  Japan  was  necessarily 
of  a  nature  to  suggest  cartoons  of  infinite  variety.  It  was 
the  quick,  aggressive  bantam  against  a  huge  but  unwieldy 
opponent,  and  one  of  the  earliest  cartoons  in  Punch  utilized 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


-99 


this  idea  In  "  The  Corean  Cock  Fight."  The  big  and  ckimsy 
Shanghai  is  Avarily  watching  his  diminutive  foe,  while  the 
Russian  bear,  contentedly  squatting  in  the  background,  is 
saying  softly  to  himself:  "  Hi !  whichever  wins,  I  see  my  way 
to  a  dinner."  Every  feature  of  Chinese  life  offered  some- 
thing to  the  caricaturists.  For  instance,  in  a  cartoon  entitled 
"  The  First  Installment,"  London  Fun  shows  the  Jap  slashing 
off  the  Chinaman's  pigtail.  Now  this  idea  of  the  pigtail  in  one 
form  or  another  was  carried  through  to  the  end  of  the  war. 
For  example  the  Berlin  Ulk  offers  a  simple  solution  of  the 
whole  controversy  in  a  picture  entitled  "  How  the  Northern 
Alexander  Might  Cut  the  Corean  Knot."  China  and  Japan, 
with  their  pigtails  hopelessly  tangled  in  a  knot  labeled 
"  Corea,"  are  tugging  desperately  in  opposite  directions, 
while  Russia,  knife  in  one  hand  and  scissors  in  the  other,  is 
preparing  to  cut  off  both  pigtails  close  to  the  heads  of  his  two 
victims. 

Punch  characteristically  represented  the  contending  nations 


IIIK    CIIINKSK    KXCI.rSION     ACT. 

froiii  tlic  Siiii  J-'raiicisco  "  U\isp." 


.^oo 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


THE    GREAT    REPUBLICAN    CIRCUS. 

This  is  considered  by  Mr.  Opper  as  one  of  his  most  effective  political 

cartoons. 

as  two  boys  engaged  in  a  street  fight,  while  the  various 
powers  of  Europe  are  looking  on.  John  Chinaman  has  ob- 
viously had  very  much  the  worst  of  the  fray;  his  features  are 
battered;  he  is  on  the  ground,  and  bawling  lustily,  "  Boo- 
hoo  !  he  hurtee  me  welly  much  !  No  peacey  man  come  stoppy 
him  I  "     The  end  of  the  war  was  commemorated  by  Toronto 


.A;-,    ■'.'/| 


302 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


Grip  in  a  tableau  showing  a  huge  Chinaman  on  his  knees, 
while  a  little  Jap  is  standing  on  top  of  the  Chinaman's  head 
toying  with  the  defeated  man's  pigtail.  Kladderadatsch,  of 
Berlin,  printed  a  very  amusing  and  characteristic  cartoon 
when  the  war  was  at  an  end:  "  Business  at  the  cieath-bed — 
Uncle  Sam  as  Undertaker."  This  pictorial  skit  alludes  to 
the  proposition  from  the  United  States  that  China  pay  her 


Mr.  Gladstone  in  the  Valley. 

war  indemnity  to  Japan  in  silver.  It  shows  a  stricken  China- 
man tucked  in  a  ludicrous  bed  and  about  to  breathe  his  last. 
Uncle  Sam,  as  an  enterprising  undertaker,  has  thrust  his  way 
in  and  insists  on  showing  the  dying  man  his  handsome  new 
style  of  coffin. 

Still  another  clever  cartoon  in  which  the  Kladderadatsch 
summed  up  the  situation  at  the  close  of  the  war  shows  a  map 


V 


1-^:; 

.-^~>>.  I?-^ 


v;R  ■■•!:>- 


THE  B()Ulan(;kr  kx(  itf:mknt. 

Tlie  Noisy  Boy  in  tlie  iMiropcan  Lo(l,t;-inL;-  Mouse. 

I')  01)1  "JuJi^e." 


YES,    CITIZKNS,    SINCIC   TIIK    DISARMAMENT   THIS    HAS    IlKKN    MADK    INTO    A      I  ELESCOI'K.       K<  HiTUNATF.LY 
IT    WAS    Nor    A    MUZZI.K-LUADKR,    SO    THKY    UAVK    liKK.N    AHI.E   TO    PUT    IN    A    l.KNS    A  1'    H0T1I    ENDS." 

A  French  cartoon  aimed  at  tlic  I't-ace  Conference. 


304 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


ol  the  eastern  hemisphere,  distorted  into  a  hkeness  of  a  much- 
perturbed  hidy,  the  British  Isles  forming  her  coiffure, 
Europe  her  arms  and  body,  and  Asia  the  flowing  drapery  of 
her  skirts.  Japan,  saw  in  hand,  has  just  completed  the  am- 
putation of  one  of  her  feet — Formosa — and  has  the  other — 
Corea — half  sawn  off.  "  Does  it  hurt  you  up  there?  "  he  is 
asking,  gazing  up  at  the  European  portion  of  his  victim. 
The  same  periodical  a  few  months  later  forcibly  called  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  while  France  and  Russia  were  both 
profiting  by  the  outcome  of  the  war,  Germany  was  likely  to  go 
away  empty-handed.  It  is  entitled  "  The  Partition  of  the 
Earth;  an  Epilogue  to  the  Chinese  Loan."  China, 
represented  as  a  fat,  overgrown  mandarin,  squatting  com- 
fortably on  his  throne,  serene  in  the  consciousness  that  his 


financial  difficulties  are  adjusted  for  the  time  being,  is  ex- 
plaining the  situation  to  Prince  Hohenlohe,  who  is  waiting, 
basket  in  hand,  for  a  share  of  the  spoils.  On  one  side  Russia 
is  bearing  oft  a  toy  engine  and  train  of  cars,  labeled  "  Man- 
churia," and  on  the  other  France  is  contentedly  jingling  the 
keys  to  a  number  of  Chinese  seaports.  "  The  world  has 
been  given  away,"  China  is  saying;  "  Kwangtung,  Kwangsl, 


A    UkuLl'   Ol'    MuDEKN    I'KENCII    CAKICATIKISTS. 


3o6  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

and  Yiinnan  are  no  longer  mine.  But  if  you  will  live  in  my 
celestial  kingdom  vou  need  not  feel  any  embarrassment;  your 
uselessness  has  charmed  us  immensely." 

The  Boulanger  excitement,  which  so  roused  France  until 
the  bubble  was  effectually  pricked  by  the  lawyer  Floquet's 
fencing  sword,  was  satirized  by  J udge  in  a  cartoon  entitled 
"  The  Noisy  Boy  in  the  European  Lodging  House."  The 
scene  is  a  huge  dormitory  in  which  the  various  European 
powers  have  just  settled  down  in  their  separate  beds  for  a 
quiet  night's  rest  when  Boulanger,  with  a  paper  cap  on  his 
head,  comes  marching  through,  loudly  beating  a  drum.  In 
an  instant  all  is  turmoil.  King  Humbert  of  Italy  is  shown 
in  the  act  of  hurling  his  royal  boot  at  the  offending  intruder. 
The  Czar  of  Russia  has  opened  his  eyes  and  his  features  are 
distorted  with  wrath.  Bismarck  is  shaking  his  iron  fist. 
The  Emperor  of  Austria  is  getting  out  of  bed,  apparently 
with  the  intention  of  inflicting  dire  punishment  on  the  inter- 
rupter of  his  slumbers.  Even  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  long 
accustomed  to  disturbances  from  all  quarters,  has  joined  in 
the  popular  outcry.  The  lodgers  with  one  voice  are  shouting, 
"  Drat  that  Boy!      Why  doesn't  he  let  us  have  some  rest?  " 

The  old  allegorical  ideal  of  Christian  passing  through  the 
dangers  of  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death  in  Bunyan's 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  which  has  been  appearing  in  caricature 
every  now  and  then  since  Gillray  used  it  against  Napoleon, 
was  employed  by  Tenniel  in  a  cartoon  of  Mr.  Gladstone  and 
Home  Rule  published  in  Pinicli,  April  15,  1893.  The  old 
warrior,  sword  in  hand.  Is  making  his  way  slowly  along  the 
narrow  and  perilous  wall  of  Home  Rule.  On  either  side  are 
the  bogs  of  disaster,  suggestive  of  his  fate  in  case  his  foot 
should  slip. 

The  Panama  scandals  in  France  and  the  ensuing  revela- 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


307 


tions  of  general  political  trickery  suggested  one  of  Sam- 
bourne's  best  cartoons,  that  depicting  France  descending  into 
the  maelstrom  of  corruption.      This  cartoon  appeared  in  the 


illK    ANCl  ()-FRF.NCIt    WAR     HAROMEIliK. 

FASIIOUA  :  :  :    FASHODA  !  !    Fashoda  I    Fashoda. 
From  "  K'ladderadat sell"  < Berlin^. 

beginning  of  189V  It  shows  I-rancc  in  the  figure  of  a 
woman  going  supinely  o\-cr  the  rapids,  to  he  hurled  iiUo  the 
whirlpool  below. 

British  feeling  on  the  I'nshotla  affair  was  suininetl  up  b\- 
Tcnniel  in  two  cartoons  which  appeared  in  <  )etoher  and 
November,  in    1S98.      The  tirst  ot'  these  ealled  "Quit — Pro 


3o8  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

Quo?"  was  marked  by  a  vlndictiv^e  bitterness  which  ap- 
peared rather  out  of  place  in  the  Punch  of  the  last  quarter 
of  the  century.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  for  a 
brief  time  feeling  ran  very  high  in  both  countries  over  the 
affair.  In  this  cartoon  France  is  represented  as  an  organ- 
grinder  who  persists  in  grinding  out  the  obnoxious  Fashoda 
tune  to  the  intense  annoyance  of  the  British  householder. 
The  second  cartoon  represents  the  Sphinx  with  the  head  of 
John  Bull.  John  Bull  is  grimly  winkmg  his  left  eye,  to  signify 
that  he  regards  himself  very  much  of  a  "  fixture  "  in  Egypt. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

AMERICAN    PARTIES    AND    PLATFORMS 

THE  dangerous  condition  in  which  the  United 
States  found  itself  about  the  time  we  began  the 
building  of  our  new  and  greater  navy  was  de- 
picted in  Judge  by  the  cartoon  entitled,  "  Rip  Van  Winkle 
Awakes  at  Last."  It  shows  a  white-bearded,  white-haired 
Uncle  Sam  seated  on  a  rock  about  which  the  tide  is  rapidly 
rising,  looking  round  at  the  great  modern  armaments  of 
England  and  France  and  Germany  and  Italy,  and  murmuring, 
as  he  thinks  of  his  own  antiquated  wooden  ships  of  war  and 
brick  forts,  "  Why,  Fm  twenty  years  behind  the  age."  In 
his  old  hat,  with  the  broken  crown,  are  the  feathers  of 
Farragut,  Perry,  Paul  Jones,  and  Lawrence,  but  these  alone 
are  not  enough,  nor  will  even  the  "  Spirit  of  '76,"  which 
hovers  o\er  him  in  the  shape  of  an  eagle,  quite  suffice.  He 
has  his  musket  of  1812  and  his  muzzle-loading  gun  of  1S64, 
but  in  the  background  arc  those  huge  cannon  of  European 
foes  and  ahoxe  them  is  the  gaunt,  grim  figure  of  a  helmeted 
Death.  A  little  more  and  it  would  have  been  too  late. 
Now  there  is  yet  time.      Rip  \'an  Winkle  awakes  at  last. 

An  interesting  variant  upon  the  oKI  t\pc  of  "  Presidential 
Steeplechase"  cartoons  appcarcil  in  I'nck  dui'lng  the  summer 
ol  1892,  alter  the  RcpLiblican  conxcntion  at  Mnincapoiis  and 
the  Democratic  con\-ention  at  Chicago  hail  i-csiiccti\-cly 
nominated  Mr.  Harrison  and  Mr.  Clc\elainl.  I  he  cartoon 
IS  ctititled  '''Ihc\'re  Off!"  and  is  lirawii  with  admii-ab'e 
spirit.       I  he   seene   is   a    Roman   amphitheatei-,    and   the   two 

309 


lO 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


Presidential  candidates,  in  the  guise  of  charioteers,  are  guid- 
ing their  mettlesome  steeds  in  a  mad  gallop  around  the  arena. 
Mr.  Cleveland's  horses,  "  Tariff  Reform  "  and  "  Economy," 
are  running  steadily,  and  seem  to  be  slowly  forging  to  the 
front,  while  those  of  Mr.  Harrison,  "  High  Protection  "  and 


RU'    VAN    WINKLK    AWAKKS    AT    LAST. 
nyCiillaiii  ill  '•Judge.'''' 

"  Force  Bill,"  are  not  pulling  well  together,  and  with  ears 
pointed  forward,  look  as  though  they  might  at  any  moment 
become  unmanageable. 

In  connection  with  this  campaign  of  1892,  there  was  no 
cartoon  of  more  interest  than  that  entitled  "  Where  Am  I 
At?  "  which  Bernard  Gillam  drew  for  Judge,  and  this  in- 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


II 


•"-""-^c: 


THEY  RE    OFF  1 

The  Presidential  race  between  Harrison  and  Cleveland  in  1S92. 

From  "  Fiicky 

terest  lies  less  in  the  cartoon  itself  than  in  the  amusing  story 
of  its  conception  and  cxectition.      Right  up  to  election  clay 
not  only  Gillam,but  the  entire  staff  of  Jiidg^e^  were  perfectly 
confident  of  Republican  success  at  the  polls.      To  them  the 
election  seemed  to  be  a  mere  formality  which  had  to  be  gone 
through  with,  in  order  that  General  Harrison  might  remain 
in  the  White  House  for  four  years  more.      So  a  conference 
was  held,  after  which  Mr.  Ciillam  began  work  on  the  cartoon 
which   was  to  commemorate  the    Republican   \  ictory.       I  he 
idea  used  was  that  of  a  general  smash-up.  with   Mr.   Cleve- 
land in  the  middle  of  the  ili'hacU-  aiul  the  kcpublican  elephant 
marching  triumphantK'  o\er  the  ruins.      .\long  these  Imes  a 
double-page  cartoon  was  drawn  with  an  immense  \anet\   ot 
detail,  reproduced,  and  made  ready  tor  the  press.      1. lection 
Day  came  around,  and  a  tew   hours  after  the  polls  IkuI  been 
closed  it  became  e\'idcnt,  to  the  eonsteiaiation  ot   Mr.  (ullam 
aiui   his  associates,   that   instead   ol    tlu-  expected    Kepubliean 
\Ictor\-,  .Mr.  C  le\  (.land  li;ul  swept  the  eountr\  In'  overwhelm- 


c 

'd 
C 


1^     :-. 


O     O 


C    c3 
C  T3 


^ 
^ 


rt  c 


<:  .i: 


w^ 


.^   V. 

rt 

■";g 


"J 

u 
o 

o 


^ 
^ 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  313 

ing  majorities.  What  was  to  be  done?  It  was  too  late  to 
prepare  another  cartoon,  so  that  the  plate  already  made  was 
taken  from  the  press,  and  the  cartoonist  set  to  work.  To 
the  ciiscomfited  countenance  of  xVlr.  Cleveland  Gillam  at- 
tached a  beard  which  transformed  the  face  into  a  likeness  to 
that  of  the  defeated  Republican  candidate.  A  huge  patch 
drawn  o\er  one  of  the  eyes  of  the  Republican  elephant 
changed  its  appearance  of  elation  to  one  of  the  most  woe- 
begone depression.  Other  slight  changes  in  the  legends  here 
and  there  throughout  the  picture  transformed  its  nature  to 
such  an  extent  that  only  the  most  practiced  eye  could  detect 
anything  that  was  not  wholly  spontaneous  and  genuine.  To 
cap  it  all,  in  a  corner  of  the  picture  Gillam  drew  a  likeness  of 
himself  in  the  form  of  a  monkey  turning  an  uncomfortable 
somersault.  With  a  knowledge  of  these  facts  the  reader  by 
a  close  examination  of  this  cartoon,  which  is  reproduced  in 
this  volume,  will  undoubtedly  detect  the  lines  along  which  the 
lightning  change  was  made.  Nevertheless,  it  will  be  im- 
possible for  him  to  deny  that  the  transformation  was  cleverly 
done. 

Besides  being  the  year  of  the  Presidential  campaign,  1892 
was  a  year  when  the  thoughts  of  Americans  were  turned  back- 
ward four  centuries  to  the  time  when  Christopher  ColuT7ibus 
first  landed  on  the  shore  of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  The 
original  ships  ot  Colunilnis's  licet  were  being  brought  over 
the  water  from  Spain  ;  the  Columbus  idea  was  being  exploited 
everywhere  in  topical  song  and  light  opera;  ami  ir  woukl  have 
been  strange  indectl  il  it  had  tadcil  to  play  some  part  in 
political  caricature,  (iillam  in  JiiJ'^(-  mailc  use  o(  it  in  the 
cartoon  entitled  "The  Political  Columbus  Who  Will  \()\^ 
I  antl  in  '02."  It  represents  the  ship  of  the  Democracy  with 
Mr.   Clexelaml  as  COIunilnis  Lra/iiiLT  anxiousK    and   uneasib' 


CO 


Q 

Z 
< 


o 

O    ' 


o 
u 

< 


-1 
o 


^ 


\.::ii.„.i 


\/m 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


315 


at  the  horizon.  At  the  bow  of  the  ship  is  the  hon's  head  and 
the  shield  of  Britannia,  in  allusion  to  Mr.  Cleveland's  alleged 
pro-English  sympathies.  The  sail  upon  which  the  ship  is 
relying  for  its  progress  is  marked  "  Free  Trade  "  and  is  a 
woefully  patched  and  weather-beaten  bit  of  canvas.  The 
crew  of  the  ship  is  a  strange  assortment  which  suggests  all 
sorts  of  mutiny  and  piracy.  In  the  front  of  the  vessel  and 
close  behind  the  captain  are  Dana,  Croker,  Sheehan,  and 
Hill.      Beyond  them  we  see  the  figures  of  Cochran,  Carlisle, 


Crisp,  Rricc,  and  Mills  ami  1-Mowcr.  In  the  far  aft  are 
Blackburn  and  (ioniiaii.  l',\idcnrl\  crew  and  captain  are 
animated  h\  despair,  althoiinji  the  mill,  bcai'ing  the  tcatiifcs 
of  Mi-.  Pulit/cf.  ot  the  New  ^Ork  //'(nl,I,  that  is  circling 
around  the  ship,  shows  rhar  laiul  is  not  so  nian\'  miles  away. 
"  I  don't  see  land,"  cries  C  le\  elaiul-COlmnlnis.  An.l  the 
despairing  crew,  pointing  to  the  !•  ree  I  rade  sail,  calls  hack, 
"Ami  \()u  ncN'ci"  will  with  that  rotten  canxas." 

In  contrast  with  the  \  iiulietue  .md  malicious  characfer  of 


3i6  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

the  cartoons  which  heralded  Mr.  Cleveland's  first  election, 
there  was  a  marked  absence  of  unpleasant  personalities  in 
those  which  belong  to  the  period  of  his  second  term.  There 
was  no  disposition,  however,  to  spare  him  in  regard  to  the 
growing  difficulty  he  had  in  holding  his  party  together  or  his 
assumption  of  what  Republicans  regarded  as  an  entirely  un- 
warranted degree  of  authority.  This  autocratic  spirit  was 
cleverly  satirized  by  a  cartoon  in  Judge,  to  which  allusion 
has  already  been  made.  It  consists  simply  of  a  map  of  the 
United  States  so  drawn  as  to  form  a  grotesque  likeness  of 
the  President.  He  is  bending  low  in  an  elaborate  bow,  in 
which  mock-humility  and  glowing  self-satisfaction  are  amus- 
ingly blended,  his  folded  hands  forming  the  Florida  penin- 
sula, his  coat-tails  projecting  into  lower  California.  Beneath 
is  inscribed  the  following  paraphrase  : 

My  country,  'tis  of  ME, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty, 
Of  ME  I  sing! 

Mr.  Cleveland's  troubles  with  his  party  began  early  in  his 
second  administration.  As  early  as  April  we  find  him  de- 
picted by  Judge  as  the  "  Political  Bull  in  the  Democratic 
China-Shop."  The  bull  has  already  had  time  to  do  a  vast 
amount  of  havoc.  The  plate-glass  window,  commanding  a 
view  of  the  national  capitol,  is  a  wreck,  and  the  floor  is 
strewn  with  the  remains  of  delicate  cups  and  platters,  amidst 
which  may  still  be  recognized  fragments  of  the  "  Baltimore 
Machine,"  "  Rewards  for  Workers,"  "  Wishes  of  the 
Leaders,"  etc.  An  elaborate  vase,  marked  "  N.  Y.  Ma- 
chine," and  bearing  a  portrait  of  Senator  Hill,  is  just  top- 
pling o\er,  to  add  its  fragments  to  the  general  wreckage. 

The  general  depression  of  trade  and  the  much-debated 
issue  of  tariff  reform  recur  again  and  again  in  the  caricatures 


a 
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i8  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


of  the  second  Cleveland  administration,  especially  after  the 
Republican  landslide  of  1893.      Thus,  in  December  of  that 
year,  a  significant  cartoon  in  Judge  represents  the  leading 
statesmen  of  each  party  engaged  in  a  game  of  "  National 
Football/'  the  two  goals  being  respectively  marked  "  Protec- 
tion "    and   "  Free   Trade."      "  Halfback  "    Hill    is   saying, 
"  Brace  up,  Cap;  we've  got  the  ball,"  and  Captain  Grover, 
nursing  :i  black  eve,  rejoins  disconsolately,  "  That's  all  very 
well,  boys,  but  thev'\e  scored  against  us,  and  we've  got  to 
put  up  the  game  of  our  lives  to  beat  them."      In  January  the 
same    periodical    published    a    pessimistic    sketch,    showing 
L^ncle  Sam,  shivering  with  cold,  and  his  hands  plunged  deep 
into  his  pockets,  gloomily  watching  the  mercury  in  the  "  In- 
dustrial Thermometer  "  sinking  steadily  lower  from  protec- 
tion and  plenty,  through  idleness,  misery,  and  starvation,  to 
the    zero    point    of    free    trade.        "  Durn    the    Democratic 
weather,  anyway,"  says  Uncle  Sam.      A  more  hopeful  view 
of  the  situation  found  expression  in  Puck,  in  a  cartoon  entitleci 
"  Relief    at    Hand."       Tabor,    in    the    guise    of   an    Alpine 
traveler,    has    fallen   bv   the   wayside,    and    lies   half   buried 
beneath  the  snows  of  the  "  McKinley  Tariff."      Help,  how- 
ever, has  come,  in  the  form  of  a  St.  Bernard,  named  "  Wil- 
son Tariff  Bill,"  while  Cleveland,  in  the  guise  of  a  monk,  is 
hastening   from   the   neighboring   monastery,    drawn   in   the 
semblance   of   the   national    capitol.      Still    another   cartoon 
harping  on  the  need  of  tariff  reform  represents  McKinley  and 
the  other  leading  Republicans  as  "  Ponce  de  Leon  and  His 
Followers,"  gathered  around  a  pool  labeled  "  High  Protec- 
tion Doctrine."      "  They  think  it  is  the  fountain  of  political 
youth  and  strength,  but  it  is  only  a  stagnant  pool  that  is 
almost  dried  up."     Among  the  many  caricatures  in  which 
Judge  supported  the  opposite  side,  and  heaped  ridicule  on 


L_ 


,  :-y  ■->' 


-      ^ 


2§ 


< 


320 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


the  Wilson  Bill,  one  of  the  best  shows  Uncle  Sam  retiring 
for  the  night,  and  examining  with  disgust  and  wrath  the 
meager  crazy  quilt  (the  Wilson  Bill)  with  which  he  has  been 


THE     HARRISON    PLAIFUR.M. 
By  Keppler  in  "  Puck:'' 

provided  in  lieu  of  blankets.  "  I'll  freeze  to  death,"  he  is 
grumbling,  "  and  yet  some  of  those  idiots  call  this  a  protec- 
tive measure." 

Mr.  Cleveland's  determination  to  return  to  the  South  the 
flags  captured  in  the  War  of  Secession,  in  the  hopes  of  put- 
ting an  end  to  sectional  feeling,  brought  down  upon  his  head 
the  wrath  of  the  more  extreme  Republican  element,  a  wrath 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  321 

which  was  reflected  strongly,  editorially  and  pictorially,  in  the 
papers  of  the  day.  This  suggested  to  Jiid^^e  the  cartoon  en- 
titled "  Halt,"  in  which  Mr.  Cleveland,  in  the  act  of  handing 
back  the  captured  flags,  is  restrained  by  the  spirit  of  Lincoln, 
which  says,  "  Had  you  fought  for  those  flags  you  would  not 
be  so  quick  to  give  them  away!  "  To  which  Mr.  Cleveland 
is  made  to  reply,  "  Great  Scott!  I  thought  you  were  dead  and 
forgotten  long  ago.  I  only  meant  to  please  Mr.  Solid  South. 
They're  rubbish,  anyhow."  This  is  another  cartoon  from 
the  hand  of  the  prolific  Gillam. 

The  movement  for  the  annexation  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  which  occurred  In  the  spring  of  1893,  '^"*J  which 
many  Americans  were  inclined  to  regard  with  suspicion  and 
disfavor,  was  commemorated  in  a  great  variety  of  cartoons, 
both  in  this  country  and  abroad.  It  was  only  natural  that  a 
movement  which  owed  its  inception  to  a  Republican  ad- 
ministration, should  receive  the  cordial  appro\al  and  indorse- 
ment of  Judge.  A  cartoon,  dated  F^ebruary  18,  represents 
Columbia  in  the  guise  of  an  exemplary  modern  school-mis- 
tress, serenely  holding  in  order  her  turbulent  class  of  mingled 
Chinese,  negroes,  Indians,  Italian  organ-grinders,  and  Rus- 
sian anarchists,  while  she  gives  a  cordial  welcome  to  the 
small,  half-naked  new  scholar  frOm  the  l^acific,  who  is  timidly 
begging  to  be  admitted.  Canada,  represented  as  a  dcnuire 
little  maiden,  stands  just  behind  Hawaii,  an  interested  specta- 
tor, apparently  more  than  halt  inclnicd  to  lollow  his  example. 
In  much  the  same  spirit  was  a  design  that  apjK-ared  in  the 
IVasp,  representing  Uncle  Sam  in  the  character  of  St.  Peter, 
holding  the  ke\-  to  America's  pohtical  paradise.  "  Poor 
little  imp,"  he  is  sa\ing  to  the'  I  lawaiian  apphcant,  "  I  don'r 
see  wh\  I  shouKl  shut  nou  out,  when  V\v  let  m  all  the  tramps 
of  the  worKl  alreacK."      Anoiher  eai'toon  whieh  appeaiwi  m 


322 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


THE   END    OF   THE    CHILIAN    AFFAIR. 

Fi-otn  ^^Judgey 

Judge  was  entitled,  "  The  Champion  Masher  of  the  Uni- 
verse." This  represents  Hawaii  under  the  form  of  a  dusky 
but  comely  damsel,  being  borne  off  complacently  by  a 
gorgeously  attired  Uncle  Sam,  while  his  discomfited  rivals 
are  looking  on  in  chagrin  and  disgust.  These  rivals  are 
England,  under  the  form  of  John  Bull;  France,  shown  under 
the  features  of  President  Sadi  Carnot;  Germany,  the  Em- 
peror William;  and  Italy,  King  Humbert.  This  cartoon 
was  drawn  by  Gillam. 

The  Toronto  Grip  saw  the  matter  in  quite  a  different 
aspect.  Hawaii,  a  badly  frightened  savage,  is  bound  to  a 
stake,  while  Uncle  Sam,  in  the  guise  of  a  missionary,  is 
whetting  the  knife  of  annexation,  preparing  to  give  him  the 
coup-de-grace,  and  at  the  same  time  waving  off  John  Bull, 
who  holds  his  knife,  "  Protectorate,"  with  similar  intent. 
"  Hold  up,"  says  Hawaii,  "  didn't  you  say  it  was  wrong  to 
eat  man?"   and  Uncle  Sam  rejoins  benevolently,    "Yes — 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  323 

but — well,    circumstances   alter   cases,    and    the    interests   of 

civilization  and  commerce,  you  know You  keep  off, 

John:  he's  my  meat."  The  suggestion  that  England  was 
merely  waiting  for  a  good  excuse  to  step  in  and  take  posses- 
sion of  Hawaii,  while  the  American  administration  and 
Congress  were  trying  to  reach  an  understanding,  was  eagerly 
seized  upon  by  other  journals  as  well  as  Grip,  especially  in 
Germany.  The  Berlin  Ulk  portrayed  Queen  Liliuokalani, 
armed  with  a  broom,  angrily  sweeping  Uncle  Sam  from  his 
foothold  in  Honolulu,  while  John  Bull,  firmly  established  on 
two  of  the  smaller  islands,  "  laughs  to  his  heart's  content," 
so  the  legend  runs,  "  but  the  Yankee  is  mad  with  rage."  In 
similar  spirit  the  Kladderadatsch  depicts  John  Bull  and  Uncle 
Sam  as  "  Two  Good  Old  Friends,"  trying  to  "  balance  their 
interests  in  the  Pacific  Ocean."  With  clasped  hands  the  two 
rivals  are  see-sawing  backwards  and  forwards,  each  striving 
to  retain  a  precarious  foothold,  as  they  straddle  the  Pacific 
from  Samoa  to  Hawaii,  and  each  quite  oblivious  of  the  dis- 
comfort of  the  squirming  little  natives  that  they  are  crushing 
under  heel. 

The  fiasco  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  attempt  to  restore  Queen 
Liliuokalani  to  her  throne  was  hit  off  in  Jiid^c  by  a  cartoon 
portraying  him  as  Don  Quixote,  physically  much  the  worse 
for  wear,  as  a  result  of  his  latest  tilt  at  the  I  lawaiian  wiiul- 
mill.  Fhe  knight's  spirit,  howe\-cr,  is  unbroken,  and  he  is 
receiving  philosophically  the  well-meant  consolation  of 
Sancho  Panza  Gresham. 

Another  cartoon  of  sterling  literary  flavor  is  that  represent- 
ing Mi-.  McKinley  as  a  political  Tarn  o'  Shantcr,  \\hich 
appeared  during  the  exciting  election  ot  i  S96.  The 
countenance  ol  Tani  111  tins  (.artooii  shows  none  ot  the  anxiety 
and  mental  perturbation  ot  ihc  hero  ol  ikirns'  poems.      \  ou 


< 
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CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


325 


OF  THeTj 


DON    QUIXOTK    HRYAN    MKKIS     DISASTER    IN    MIS    KNCtHiNTKR    \VHU 
THK    l-L'I.I.    IHNNKR    I'AII.. 

/>'>'  I'ichu-  Gillaiii  III  "Jiiii^f." 

can  sec  that  he  has  full  conlitlciicc  in  his  l!;(1(k1  mare,  "  Na- 
tional Creilit,"  ami  is  perteetlv  coinineed  that  she  will  carry 
hini  unscathed  over  the  road  to  (lood  Times,  Prosperity  and 
Protection.  i  he  earlins  ha\  e  heen  close  at  his  mare's  heels. 
ho\vc\er,  and  as  he  [)asscs  the  hridge  on  er  which  they  (.lare 


OUTING    UF    THE    ANARCHISTS. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


327 


not  cross,  the  foremost  of  his  pursuers  has  caught  and  pulled 
away  as  a  trophy  the  tail  of  the  steed.  The  tail,  however, 
is  something  with  which  he  can  well  part,  for  it  typifies  four 
years  of  business  depression.  The  leaders  of  the  pursuing 
carlins  are  Free  Trade,  Anarchy,  Sectionalism,  and  Popoc- 
racy. 

Mr.  Bryan's  appeal  to  the  farmer  in  1896  was  hit  oft  by 
Hamilton  in  a  powerful,  but  exceedingly  blasphemous,  car- 


l^V- 


fr^'c 


tn^% 


TO    'Vn-V.    DKATII. 


toon  entitled  "  The  Temptation."  Br\an  in  the  lonn  ot  a 
huge  angcl  of  darkness  has  taken  tlic  l;iriiKr  to  the  fop  ot  a 
high  mountain  to  show  him  tiie  riches  ol  the  world.  As  tar 
as  the  eve  can  see  stretcii  oceans  and  cities  anil  hills  aiui  ri\ers 
anil  mountains  of  sl]\er.       it  is  a  great  pity  tiiar  so  grim  and 


328 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


powerful  a  cartoon  should  have  been  marred  by  that  display 
of  bad  taste  which  has  been  too  frequent  in  the  history  of 
caricature. 

The  caricature  produced  by  the  campaign  between  Mr. 
McKinley  and  Mr.  Bryan  in  1900  offers  few,  if  any,  cartoons 
more  admirable  than  that  by  Mr.  Victor  Gillam,  representing 


Don  Quixote  Bryan  meeting  disaster  in  his  fight  against  the 
full  dinner  pail.  This  cartoon  has  that  literary  flavor  which 
has  been  too  much  lacking  in  American  caricature,  and  which 
raises  this  particular  cartoon  far  above  the  average  in  the 
same  school.  The  idea,  of  course,  is  based  on  Don  Quixote's 
disastrous  encounter  with  the  windmill,  which  that  poor  crack- 
brained  gentleman  took  to  be  a  giant.  The  body  of  the 
windmill  is  a  huge  dinner  pail  and  its  arms  are  a  crossed  knife 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


329 


and  fork.  Don  Quixote,  Incased  in  armor  from  head  to 
foot,  and  mounted  on  the  Democratic  donkey  with  free  silver 
for  a  saddle,  has  tilted  against  the  solid  structure  with 
disastrous  results,      tlis  lance  is  shattered,  and  he  and  his 


WE    ARE   THE     PEOPLE. 


faithful  Steed  lie  prostrate  and  discomfited  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  road.  7'he  Sancho  Panza  needed  to  complete  the 
picture  appears  under  the  familiar  features  of  Mr.  Richard 
Croker,  who,  leading  the  Tammany  Tiger  by  a  rope,  is 
hurrying  to  his  master's  assistance.  In  the  distance  may  be 
seen  the  White  House,  but  the  road  in  that  direction  is  com- 
pletely barred  In  the  stanch  windmill  that  has  so  success- 
lully  resisted  the  mad  knight's  onslaught. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE    SPANISH-AMERICAN    WAR 

THE  pent-up  feeling  throughout  the  United  States, 
which  reached  a  dangerous  degree  of  tension 
during  the  weeks  preceding  the  declaration  of  war 
against  Spain,  was  forcibly  symbolized  in  the  Minneapolis 
Herald.  The  dome  of  the  National  Capitol  is  portrayed, 
surmounted  by  a  "  Congressional  safety-valve."  McKinley, 
clinging  to  the  cupola,  is  anxiously  listening  to  the  roar  of 
the  imprisoned  steam,  which  is  escaping  in  vast  "  war  clouds," 
in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  Speaker  Reed,  who  is  freely 
perspiring  in  his  effort  to  hold  down  the  valve. 

One  of  those  cartoons  which  are  not  to  be  forgotten  in  a 
day  or  a  week  or  a  month;  one  which  stirs  the  blood  and 
rouses  the  mind  to  a  new  patriotism  even  when  seen  years 
after  the  events  which  inspired  it,  is  Victor  Gillam's  "  Be 
Careful !  It's  Loaded !  "  which  appeared  a  few  weeks  before 
the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish-American  War  and  which  we 
deem  worthy  of  being  ranked  among  the  twenty-five  or  thirty 
great  cartoons  which  the  nineteenth  century  has  produced, 
lo  realize  to-day  its  full  force  and  meaning  one  has  to  recall 
the  peculiar  tension  under  which  the  American  people  were 
laboring  during  the  months  of  February,  March,  and  April, 
1898.  The  Manic  had  been  destroyed  in  Havana  Harbor, 
and  although,  now  that  anger  has  died  down,  we  can  no  lon- 
ger cling  implacably  to  the  belief,  which  was  then  everywhere 
expressed,  that  it  was  an  act  emanating  from  the  Spanish 
Government,   at  the   time   it  was  too   much    for  our  over- 

330 


r    o 
-J 

-  <i 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


3'^  '> 


wrought  nerves;  the  condition  of  Cuba  was  growing  every 
day  more  deplorable,  and  everyone  felt  that  the  inevitable 
conflict  was  hourly  at  hand.  In  the  picture  American 
patriotism  is  symbolized  by  a  huge  cannon.  A  diminutive 
Spaniard  has  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  mast  of  a  Spanish  vessel 
and  monkey-like  is  shaking  his  fist  down  the  muzzle.  Uncle 
Sam,  standing  bv  the  gun  and  realizing  the  Spaniard's  im- 


Speaker  Reed  to  McKinley—"  You've  got  to 
bank  the  fire  soine  way  or  other:  I  can't  hold 
in  this  steam  mucli  lonj^er." 

Minneapolis  "  Tribune." 

minent  peril  calls  out,  cxcitcdlv,  "Be  Careful!  It's 
Loaded!  "  a  warning  to  which  the  latter  seems  little  inclined 
to  pay  any  attention.  In  its  \erv  simplicitv  this  cartoon  dif- 
fers greatlv  troin  most  of  those  of  the  school  of  l^ink  and 
J ti(i[rc.  I  here  is  none  of  that  inhnite  \anet\-  of  detail  which 
makes  an  elaborate  study  necessar\'  in  order  to  arrix  e  at  a  hill 
comprehension  ot  tlic  meaning  ot  a  cartoon.  "  Be  careful  ! 
It's  Loadetl !  "  like  the  most  striking  English  ami  i*'rench  car- 
toons, \^^■^\  hv  inuk'rstood  ;it  a  Lrlance. 


334  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

A  cartoon  like  Grant  E.  Hamilton's  "  The  Latest  War 
Bulletin  "  we  find  amusing  at  the  present  time.     We  did  not 


THE    LATEST    WAR    BULLETIN. 

By  Hamilton  in  ^" Judge.'''' 


find  it  so  a  little  over  five  years  ago.  This  latest  war  bulletin, 
printed  in  asbestos,  is  supposed  to  have  been  just  received 
from  the  infernal  regions.  His  Satanic  majesty,  with  a  sar- 
donic grin  upon  his  face,  has  just  composed  it  to  his  own 
entire  satisfaction.  Marked  up  on  the  burning  furnace  of 
Hades  it  reads:  "Only  Spanish  will  be  spoken  here  until 
further  notice — P.  S.  Guests  will  please  leave  their  crowns 
and  Spanish  4's  in  charge  of  the  night  clerk." 

Another  equally  hideous  cartoon  by  Hamilton  is  that 
entitled  "  The  Spanish  Brute  Adds  Mutilation  to  Murder." 
It  shows  a  hideous  ape-like  monster  representing  Spain,  one 
blood-dripping  hand  smearing  the  tombstones  erected  to  the 
sailors  of  the  Maine  and  the  other  clutching  a  reeking  knife. 
All  about  him  under  the  tropical  trees  are  the  bodies  of  his 


o 

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CD  U 

>  o 


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Z       -. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


337 


mutilated  victims.  The  expression  of  the  monster's  coun- 
tenance is  a  lesson  in  national  prejudice.  It  shows  how  far  a 
well-balanced  nation  may  go  in  moments  of  bitterness  and 
anger. 

One  of  the  most  striking  and  amusing  of  all  the  cartoons 
evoked  by  the  results  of  the  Spanish-American  War  ap- 
peared in  Punch   at  a  time  when  our  departure   from  our 


p:5--r|-|r7^pRFrp:^ 


THK    SI'ANISH    BKUTE— ADDS     MUTILATION    TO    MURDER. 
By  JIamitton  in  "  Jiidf^e.'" 

traditional  policy  began  to  cause  coniiucnt  in  Europe.  There 
are  two  figures,  that  of  Dame  Europa  ami  that  of  Uncle  Sam. 
Dame  F'uropa  is  a  lady  of  frigid  aspect,  with  arms  tolded, 
and  who  has  ch-awn  hcrsclt  up  to  full  Iicight  as  she  ga/es 
scornfulK'  at  the  comphicent  and  unrufHcd  I  nclc  Sam.  "  1  o 
whom  do  1  owe  the  honor  ot  this  intrusion?"  she  asks  icilv. 
''  Marm,  m\  name  is  I  nclc  Sani."  "  ,\n\-  relation  ol  tlie 
late  Colonel  Monroe?"  is  the  scathino  retort. 


338  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

No  less  interesting  than  the  American  cartoons  of  the 
Spanish  War  are  those  contributed  by  Spain  herself,  although 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  events  they  are  chieHy  amusing  for 
their  o\er\veening  confidence  and  braggadocio  insolence. 
Among  the  more  extravagant  flights  of  Spanish  imagination, 
which  later  news  turned  into  absurdities,  may  be  cited 
"  Dewey's  Situation,"  in  which  the  victor  of  Manila  is 
represented  as  a  disconsolate  rat,  caught  in  the  Philippine 
mouse-trap;  "  Cervera  bottles  up  Schley,"  a  situation  which 
the  sober  facts  of  history  afterwards  reversed;  and  "  McKin- 
ley's  Condition,"  in  which  the  President  is  represented  as 
swathed  in  bandages,  and  suffering  se\'erely  from  apocryphal 
injuries  received  at  Porto  Rico  and  Cienfuegos.  All  of 
these  cartoons  appeared  at  different  times  in  the  Madrid 
Don  Oiiijote,  which  did  not  always  keep  on  this  level  of 
empty  boasting,  but  occasionally  produced  some  really  clever 
caricature.  A  regular  feature  of  the  Spanish  War  cartoons 
was  the  American  Hog  as  a  symbol  of  the  United  States,  and 
some  of  the  applications  of  this  idea  in  the  Do)i  Oiiijote 
were  distinctly  amusing.  For  instance,  in  reference  to  Spain's 
accusation  that  an  American  ship  flew  the  Spanish  flag  at 
Guantanamo  in  order  to  approach  near  enough  to  cut  the 
cable,  America  is  shown  as  a  fat  hog,  triumphantly  strutting 
along  on  its  hind  legs  and  ostentatiously  waving  the  Spanish 
colors.  Again,  the  Sampson-Schley  controversy  is  hit  off  in 
a  picture  showing  Sampson  surrounded  by  a  number  of  naval 
"  hogs,"  each  armed  with  gigantic  shears  and  bent  upon 
obtaining  the  Admiral's  scalp.  Still  another  cartoon  seeks 
to  explain  the  "  real  purpose  "  in  getting  Cuba  away  from 
Spain.  A  drove  of  pigs  have  clustered  around  a  huge  barrel 
of  Cuban  molasses  and  are  eagerly  sucking  the  contents 
through  tubes.     Of  a  more  dignified  type  are  the  caricatures 


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CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  341 

representing  Spain  as  a  beautiful  and  haughty  Seiiorita, 
boldly  showing  how  she  keeps  beneath  her  garter  "  a  knife 
for  the  American  pigs";  or  pointing  to  her  shoe  on  which 
Cuba  serves  as  a  buckle,  and  arrogantly  challenging  a 
diminutive  McKinley, — "  you  can't  unbuckle  that  shoe!  " 


CHAPTER   XXXII 


THE    BOER    WAR    AND    THE    DREYFUS    CASE 


A 


CART  OON  which  was  a  forerunner  of  the  Trans- 
vaal War  and  the  raihvay  between  Capetown  and 
Cairo  was  that  entitled  "  The  Rhodes  Colossus," 
which  appeared  in  Punch  December  lo,  1892.  It  was  by  the 
hand  of  Linley  Sambourne.    It  shows  a  colossal  figure  of  Cecil 


TH£    RHODES    COLOSSUS 

STHlmNG    fROM    CAFE    TQW^    TO    CAIRO 


By  Liiilcy  Sanihoit)iic. 

Rhodes  standing  on  a  map  of  Africa  with  one  foot  planted  in 
Egypt  and  the  other  at  the  Cape.  In  his  hands  he  holds  a 
line  suggesting  the  telegraph  wire  connecting  the  two  places. 

342 


< 


<    - 


^ 


2     ?2 

t  ^ 

en 


344 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


Although  the  German  Government  refused  to  interfere  in 
the  protracted  struggle  in  the  I  ransvaal,  the  sympathy  of 
Germany  with  the  Boers  found  expression  in  a  host  of  car- 
toons, bitterly  inveighing  against  British  aggression. 
Thoroughly  characteristic  is  one  which  appeared  in  the 
Liistige  Blatter  entitled  "English  World-Kingdom;  or, 
Bloody    Cartography."     A   grossly    distorted   caricature   of 


THE    ENGLISH    WORLD    KLNGDOM,    OR   BLOODY 

CARTOGRAPHY. 

From  the  "  Lustige  Blatter.'''' 

Victoria  is  standing  before  a  map  of  the  world,  and  dipping 
her  pen  in  a  cup  of  blood,  held  for  her  by  an  army  officer. 
Chamberlain,  at  her  elbow,  is  explaining  that  "  the  lowest 
corner  down  yonder,  must  be  painted  red  !  "  Another  of 
the  Lustiirc  RlatWrs  grim  cartoons,  alluding  to  the  terrible 
price  in  human  life  that  England  paid  for  her  ultimate  vic- 
tory in  the  Transvaal,  depicts  Britannia,  as  Lady  Macbeth, 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  345 

vainly  trying  to  wash  the  stain  from  her  bloody  hands. 
"  Out,  damned  spot!  "  In  lighter  vein  is  the  cartoon  which 
is  here  reproduced  from  the  Wiener  Hiimoristische  Blatter 
showing   "  Oom    Paul   at    His    Favorite    Sport."       Kruger, 


r.RITANNtA    AS    I.APY    MACBETH    TRYING   TO   WASH 
AWAY    THE    STAINS    OV    THE    HOER    WAR. 

From  the  "  Liistif^e  lUiitter." 

rakishly  arrayed  in  tennis  garb,  is  extracting  infinite  cnjov- 
ment  from  the  congenial  exercise  of  volleying  English 
soldiers,  dressed  up  as  shuttlecocks,  o\er  the  "  'rrans\'aal 
net  "  into  the  watery  ditch  beyond. 

Judged  by  the  manner  it  was  mirrored  in  the  caricature  of 
Europe  and  America,  the  Drevfus  Case  assumed  the  magni- 
tude of  a  great  war  or  a  crisis  in  national  existence.  During 
the  last  two  or  three  N'cars  that  the  degraded  Captain  of 
;\i-tlllcr\'  ^\•as  a  prisoner  at  Dcxil's  Island,  when  /ola  was 
furiously  accusing,  ami  the  (ieneral  Staff  was  talking  about 


THE    FLYING    Dl'TCIIMAN. 
Minneapolis  "■Journal.''' 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


347 


OOM    PAULS    I-AVOKIIE    I'ASl  IME. 

From  the  "  Wiener  Humorist ische  Blatter." 

"  the  Honor  of  the  Army,"  and  France  was  divided  into  two 
angry  camps,  one  had  only  to  glance  at  the  current  cartoons 
to  realize  that  Dreyfus  was,  as  the  late  G.  W.  Steevens  called 
him,  "  the  most  famous  man  in  the  world."  lor  a  time  the 
great  personages  of  the  earth  were  relegated  to  the  back- 
ground. The  monarchs  and  statesmen  of  Europe  were  of 
interest  and  importance  only  so  far  as  their  careers  affected 
that  of  the  formerly  obscure  Jewish  officer. 

Perhaps  the  most  famous  of  all  the  admirable  cartoons 
dealing  with  r.Jjfriirc  was  the  "  Design  tor  a  New  I'rench 
Bastile,"  which  was  of  (jcrman  origin  and  which  caused  the 
paper  publishing  it  to  be  excludeil  from  1*  rcnch  rcrritor\.  It 
appeared  just  atter  Colonel  Heni"\  had  cut  his  throat  with  a 
razor  in  his  cell  in  the  Fortress  ot  \  incennes,  when  suspicions 
ot  collusion  were  openK  expressed,  and  some  went  so  tar  as 
to  hint  that  the  prisoner's  death  might  be  a  case  of  murder 
and  not  suicide.       I  he  "  Design  tor  a  New  h  reiich  Bastile  '' 


CENTURY  IX  CARICATURE 


349 


showed  a  formidable  fortress  on  the  lines  of  the  famous 
prison  destroyed  in  the  French  Revolution  with  a  row  of  the 
special  cells  beneath.  In  one  of  these  cells  a  loaded  revolv^er 
was  placed  conspicuously  on  the  chair;  in  the  next  was  seen  a 
sharpened  razor;  from  a  stout  bar  in  a  third  cell  dangled  a 
convenient  noose.  The  inference  was  obvious,  and  the  fact 
that  the   cells   were   labeled    "  for   Picquart,"    "  for  Zola," 


.5.  ^r^ 


SmsMuuii-jiX'tinLir-i  ;^vJ,.;l 


'■J^'J.Uu*»'>^'-^^'  :->^  -M  *  •»>' 


MR.    RHODES— THE    NAPOLEON    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA. 
Froyn  the  Westminster  "  Budget"  (^London). 

"  for  Labori  "  and  the  other  defenders  of  Dreyfus  gave  the 
cartoon  an  atldcci  aiul  sinister  significance.  In  caricature  the 
Dreyfus  case  was  a  battle  between  a  small  miinber  of  Anri- 
Drcyfussartl  artists  on  the  one  haiul,  and  the  I)i-e\  lus  press 
with  all  the  cartoonists  ol  l.urope  and  the  United  States  as 
its  allies  on  the  other.  I  he  o]">|iortiinit\  to  e\ah  tlie  prisoner, 
to  hold  him  up  as  a  martyr,  to  Interpret  pietorialK   llie  spirit 


:>:> 


o 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


of  Zola's  ringing  "  Ici  vcrite  est  en  marcJic,  et  r'len  ne  Varre- 
tt'ia!'"  offered  a  vast  field  for  dramatic  caricature.  On  the 
other  hand  the  cartoon  against  Dreyfus  and  his  defenders  was 


FIUE 

From  "  Psst"  {Paris). 


essentially  negative,  and  the  wonder  is  that  the  rout  of  the 
minority  was  not  greater — it  should  have  been  a  veritable 
"  sauve  qui  pent.'" 

The    spirit    of    anti-Dreyfussard     caricature    was    Anti- 
Semitism.     One  of  the  most  striking  of  the  cartoons  on  this 


THE    LAST    I'HASE    OK   THE    DREYFUS    CASE. 

Justice  lakes  Dreyfus  into  her  car. 

From   "  Amsterdatnnier ." 

side  purported  to  contrast  France  before  1789  and  France  at 
the  end  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.      In  the  first  picture  we 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


351 


i:/^ 


TOWARD    FREEDOM. 


^[ADAME  LA  Republique—"  Welcome,  M.  Le  Cap- 
itaine.  Let  me  hope  that  I  maj-  soon  return  you  your 
sword." 

From  "  Punch  "  (^Loudon) 


were  shown  a  peasant  toiling  laboriously  along  a  furrow  In 
the  ground,  bearing  on  his  shoulders  a  beribboned  and  be- 
plumed  aristocrat  of  the  old  regime,  whose  thighs  grip  the 
neck  of  the  man  below  with  the  tenacity  of  the  Old  Man  of 
the  Sea.  Ihat  was  France  before  the  Rexolution  came  with 
its  bloody  lesson.  In  the  picture  showing  France  at  the  end 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century  there  was  the  same  peasant  toiling 
along  at  the  bottom,  but  rlie  burtleii  under  w  hieh  he  tottered 
was  fivefold.  Abo\e  him  was  the  [lettv  merchant,  who  in 
turn  carried  oti  his  shouKiers  the  lawyer,  and  so  on  until  rul- 
ing along,  arrogantK  and  ostentatiously,  at  the  top  was  the 
figure  of  the  foreign-born  jew,  secure  through  the  posses- 
sion of  his  tainted  millions. 


352 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


The  dangerous  straits  through  which  the  Waldeck-Rous- 
seau  ministry  was  obhged  to  pass  were  hit  off  in  a  cartoon 
appearing  in  the  Hinnoristische  Blatter  of  Berhn,  entitled 
"  Between  Scylla  and  Charybdis."  On  one  side  of  the  nar- 
row waterway  a  treacherous  rock  shows  the  yawning  jaws  of 
the  Army.  On  the  other  side,  equally  hideous  and  threaten- 
ing,  gleam  the  sharpened  teeth   of  the    face   typifying   the 


A    DUTCH    VIEW. 
The  present  condition  of  the  French  general  staff. 
From    "  Amstcrdammer.'^ 

Dreyfus  Party.  Waldeck-Rousseau,  appreciating  the  choppi- 
ness  of  the  sea  and  the  dangerous  rocks,  calls  to  his  gallant 
crew :  "  P  orward,  dear  friends,  look  neither  to  the  right  nor 
to  the  left,  and  we  will  win  through  at  last."  Many  of  the 
cartoons  dealing  with  the  Dreyfus  case  were  mainly  symbolic 
in  their  nature;  full  of  figures  of  "Justice  with  her  Scales," 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


353 


"  Justice  Blindfolded  and  with  Unsheathed  Sword," 
"  Swords  of  Damocles  "  and  so  on.  A  Dutch  cartoon  in 
Amsterdammer,  entitled  "  The  Last  Phase  of  the  Dreyfus 
Case,"  showed  Justice  taking  the  unfortunate  captain  into  her 
car.  The  horses  drawing  the  car  were  led  by  Scheurer- 
Kestner  and  Zola,  while  following  the  chariot,  to  which  they 
are  linked'by  ignominious  chains,  were  the  discredited  Chiefs 
of  the  Army.    The  same  paper  humorously  summed  up  the  con- 


KETWEEN    SCYI.LA    AND     CHARYBDIS. 

Waldeck-Rousseau— "  Forward,  dear  friends, 
look  neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left,  and  we  will 
win  through  at  last." 

From  "  fluDioristische  Blatter''  (Berlin). 

dition  of  the  French  General  Staff  In  a  picture  showing  a  fall- 
ing house  of  which  the  occupants,  pulling  at  cross-purposes, 
were  accelerating  the  downfall.  The  decision  upon  Revision 
and  the  dispatching  ol  the  Spax  to  Cayenne  to  bring  Dreyfus 
back  to  France  was  coninieniorated  in  Foniion  Piii/rli  \n  a 
dignified  cartoon  called  "  I  oward  l-rcetioni."  Maiiaiiu-  la 
Republiejue  greeted    I)re\tus:  "Welcome,    M.   Ic  Cajiitaine. 


154 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


Let  me  hope  I  may  soon  return  you  your  sword."  The  same 
phase  of  the  case  was  more  maHciously  interpreted  by 
Lustigd  Blcitttr  of  Berlin  in  a  cartoon  entitled  "  At  Devil's 
Island,"  which  showed  the  Master  of  the  Island  studying 
grinningly  a  number  of  officers  whom  he  held  in  the  hollow 
of  his  hand,  and  saying:  "  They  take  away  one  captain  from 
me:  but  look  here,  a  whole  handful  of  generals!  Oh,  after 
all,  the  arrangement  is  not  so  bad." 


AT    DEVIL  S    ISLAND. 

The  Master  of  the  Island.— "They  take  awaj'  one  captain 
from  me ;  but  look  here,  a  whole  handful  of  generals !  Oh,  after 
all,  the  arrangement  is  not  so  bad." 

From  "  Lustige  Blatter  "  {Berlin'). 


CHAPTER  XXXllI 

THE    MEN    OF    TO-DAY 

WITH  the  Spanish-American  War,  the  Affaire 
Dreyfus  in  France,  and  England's  long  strug- 
gle for  supremacy  in  the  Transvaal,  the  period 
arbitrarily  chosen  as  the  scope  of  this  book  comes  to  a  bril- 
liant and  dramatic  close.  But  the  cartoonist's  work  is  never 
done.  Nimble  pencils  are  still  busy,  as  in  the  days  of  Row- 
landson  and  Gillray,  in  recording  and  in  influencing  the  trend 
of  history.  And  although,  now  and  again  during  the  past 
century,  there  has  been  some  individual  cartoonist  whose 
work  has  stood  out  more  boldly  and  prominently  than  the 
work  of  any  one  of  our  contemporaries  in  Europe  or  in  this 
country  stands  out  to-day,  there  has  never  been  a  time  in  the 
whole  history  of  comic  art  when  Caricature  has  held  such 
sway  and  maintained  such  dignity,  and  has  enlisted  in  her 
service  so  many  workers  of  the  first  talent  and  rank.  With- 
out alluding  to  the  men  of  PVance  and  England,  what  an 
array  it  is  that  contemporary  American  caricature  presents! 
C.  G.  Bush  ot  the  New  \ drk  JJ'orld,  Charles  Nelan  of  the 
New  York  Herald,  Frederick  Burr  Opper  and  Homer 
Davenport  of  the  New  York  Jincriciin  and  Joitnuil, 
Mahoney  of  the  Washington  Star,  Bradley  of  the  Chicago 
Evening  Nezts,  Ma\  of  the  Detroit  .lonnial,  "  iiart  "  of  the 
Minneapolis  Joiinidl,  Maytield  of  the  New  Orleans  Tinirs- 
Democral,  A'ictor  dilhun,  carr\ing  on  the  traditions  of  his 
brother — Rogers,  Walker,  I  Icih-ick.  Bowman,  McCutchcon, 
Lambdin,  Wallace,  Feip/.iger,  Berrxnian,  Holme,   Barthole- 

355 


C.  G.  BUSH   OF  "THE   WORLD."      THE   DEAN   OF   ACTIVE   AMERICAN    CARTOONISTS. 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 


357 


mew,  Carter,  Steele,  Powers,  Barritt — and  to  name  these  men 
does  not  nearly  exhaust  the  list  of  those  artists  whose  clever 
work  has  amused  and  unconsciously  influenced  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  thinking  American  men  and  women. 

There  are  interest  and  significance  in  the  fact  that  a  majority 
of  the  ablest  caricaturists  of  to-day  are  devoting  their  talents 
almost  exclusively  to  the  daily  press.  It  is  an  exacting  sort  of 
work,  exhaustive  both  physically  and  mentally.     The  mere 

WILLIE  AND  HIS  PAPA. 


•■Wh»t  on  eovtb  «r:  you  doing  in  tl-eic.  Willie  T" 
"Teddy  put  me  in     He  ny»  ift  the  best  place  (or  me  dunng  the  CNmpRigii  " 


idea  of  producing  a  single  daily  cartoon,  week  in  and  week 
out, — thirty  cartoons  a  month,  three  hundred  ami  sixty-five 
cartoons  a  year,  with  the  regularity  of  a  machine, — is  in  itself 
appalling.  And  vet  a  steadily  growing  number  of  artists  are 
turning  to  this  class  of  work,  ami  one  reason  tor  this  is  that 
the\  reali/e  that  through  the  medium  ot  the  daiK  press  their 
inlluence  is  more  lar-reaehing  than  it  })ossibly  can  be  in  the 


358  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

pages  of  the  comic  weeklies,  and  that  at  the  same  time  the 
exigencies  of  journalism  allow  more  scope  for  individuality 
than  do  the  carefully  planned  cartoons  of  papers  like  Puck 
or  Judge.  Speed  and  originality  are  the  two  prime  requisites 
of  the  successful  newspaper  cartoon  of  to-day,  a  maximum  of 
thought  expressed  in  a  minimum  of  lines,  apposite,  clear- 
cut,  and  incisive,  like  a  well-written  editorial.  Indeed,  our 
leading  cartoonists  regard  their  art  as  simply  another  and 
especiallv  telling  medium  for  giving  expression  to  editorial 
opinion.  Mr.  Bush,  "  the  dean  of  American  caricaturists," 
may  be  said  to  have  spoken  for  them  all  when  he  said,  in  a 
recent  interview,  that  he  looks  upon  a  cartoon  as  an  editorial 
pure  and  simple. 

"  To  be  a  success  it  should  point  a  moral.  Exaggeration 
and  a  keen  sense  of  humor  are  only  adjuncts  of  the  cartoonist, 
for  he  must  deal  \^ith  real  people.  He  must  also  be  a  student. 
I  am  obliged  not  only  to  use  my  pencil,  but  to  study  hard, 
and  read  everything  I  can  lay  my  hands  on.  The  features 
of  Roosevelt,  Bryan,  Hanna,  and  Croker  may  be  familiar  to 
me,  but  I  must  know  what  these  men  are  doing.  I  must 
also  know  what  the  masses  behind  these  popular  characters 
think  and  believe." 

Another  direct  result  of  the  influence  of  journalism  upon 
caricature,  in  addition  to  that  of  compelling  the  artist  to 
keep  in  closer  touch  rhnn  e\'er  before  with  contemporary 
history,  is  the  growing  popularity  of  the  series  method — a 
method  which  dates  back  to  the  iMacaire  of  Philipon  and  the 
Mayeux  of  Travies,  and  which  consists  in  portraying  day  by 
day  the  same  more  or  less  grotesque  types,  e\er  undergoing 
some  new  and  absurd  adventure.  It  is  a  method  which  suits 
the  needs  of  artist  and  public  alike.  To  the  former,  his 
growing  familiarity  with  every  line  and  detail  of  the  features 


IIdMI.R    1)A\  KM'OKI',    Ol-     1  1 1 K    "M.W     VdKK    AM  I.KILAN    AM)     JCUKNAl.. 


36o  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

and  forms  of  his  pictorial  puppets  minimizes  his  daily  task, 
while  the  public,  even  that  part  of  the  public  which  is  opposed 
to  comic  art  in  general,  or  is  out  of  sympathy  with  the  polit- 
ical attitude  of  a  certain  series  in  particular,  finds  itself  gradu- 
ally becoming  familiar  with  the  series,  through  fugitive  and 
unexpected  glimpses,  and  ends  by  following  the  series  with 
amusement  and  interest  and  a  growing  curiosity  as  to  what 
new   and   absurd   complications    the    artist   will    next    intro- 
duce.     This  employment  of  the  series  idea  is  as  successful 
in     social     as     political     satire.       Mr.     Outcault's     "  Yel- 
low   Kid  "    and    "  Buster    Brown,"    Mr.    Opper's    "  Happy 
Hooligan  "    and    "  Alphonse    and    Gaston,"    Gene    Carr's 
"  Lady  Bountiful,"  and  Carl  Schultze's  "  Foxy  Grandpa  " 
are  types  that  have  won  friends  throughout  the  breadth  of 
the  continent.     In  the  domain  of  strictly  political  caricature, 
however,  there  is  no  series  that  has  attracted  more  attention 
than  Homer  Davenport's  familiar  conception  of  the  Trusts, 
symbolized  as  a  bulky,  overgrown,  uncouth  figure,  a  primor- 
dial giant  from  the  Stone  Age.    And  since  there  have  been  a 
number  of  apocryphal  stories  regarding  the  source  of  Mr. 
Davenport's   inspiration,   it  will  not  be  without  interest  to 
print  the  artist's  own  statement.      "  As  a  matter  of  fact,"  he 
says,  "  I  got  the  idea  in  St.  Mark's  Square  in  Venice.     Seeing 
a  flock  of  pigeons  flying  about  in  that  neighborhood  I  imme- 
diately, with  my  love  of  birds  and  beasts,  determined  by  fair 
means  or  foul  to  purloin  a  pair.     I  watched  them  fly  hither 
and  thither,  and  in  following  them  came  across  a  statue  of 
Samson  throwing  some  man  or  other — I  forget  his  name — to 
the  ground.    The  abnormal  size  of  the  muscles  of  the  figure 
struck  me  at  once,  and  turning  round  to  my  wife,  who  was 
with    me,    I    said    with    a    sudden    inspired    thought,    '  The 
Trusts!'" 


DAVENI'ORT's    CONCKI'TIDN    OK    TIIK   TKISTS. 


362  CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE 

Of  equal  importance  are  the  various  series  in  lighter  vein 
through  which  Mr.  Opper  aims  to  lead  people  to  the  same 
way  of  thinking  politically  as  the  paper  w'hich  he  serves. 
Long  years  of  labor  and  constant  production  do  not  seem  to 
have  in  any  way  drained  his  power  of  invention,  for  no  sooner 
has  one  series  done  its  work,  and  before  the  public  has  be- 
come sated  with  it,  than  an  entirely  new  line  of  cartoons  is 
introduced.  Mr.  Opper,  as  well  as  Mr.  Davenport,  has  had 
his  fling  at  and  drawn  his  figure  of  the  Trusts,  and  to  place 
the  two  figures  side  by  side  is  to  contrast  the  methods  and 
work  of  the  men.  Mr.  Opper's  purpose  seems  to  be,  first  of 
all,  to  excite  your  mirth,  and  consequently  he  never  fails  to 
produce  a  certain  effect.  When  you  take  up  one  of  his  car- 
toons in  which  the  various  stout,  sturdy,  and  well-fed  gentle- 
men typifying  the  different  Trusts  are  engaged  in  some  pleas- 
ant game  the  object  of  which  is  the  robbing,  or  abusing  of 
the  pitiable,  dwarfish  figure  representative  of  the  Common 
People,  your  first  impulse  is  a  desire  to  laugh  at  the  ludicrous 
contrast.  It  is  only  afterwards  that  you  begin  to  think  se- 
riously how  badly  the  abject  little  victim  is  being  treated,  and 
what  a  claim  he  has  upon  your  sympathy  and  indignation. 
In  those  series  which  are  designed  entirely  along  party  lines, 
such  as  "  Willie  and  his  Papa,"  this  method  is  even  more 
effective,  since  it  begins  by  disarming  party  opposition. 

Of  such  men,  and  the  younger  draughtsmen  of  to-day, 
much  more  might  be  written  with  sympathetic  understanding 
and  enthusiasm.  But  most  of  them  belong  rather  to  the 
century  that  has  just  begun  rather  than  that  which  has  lately 
closed,  and  a  hundred  years  from  now,  whoever  attempts  to 
do  for  the  twentieth  century  a  service  analogous  to  that 
which  has  here  been  undertaken  for  the  nineteenth,  will  find 
an  infinitely  ampler  and  richer  store  of  material,  thanks  to 


CENTURY  IN  CARICATURE  363 

this  group  of  younger  satirists  in  the  full  flood  of  their  en- 
thusiasm, who  are  valiantly  carrying  on  the  traditions  of  the 
men  of  the  past — of  Leech  and  Tenniel,  of  Daumier,  and 
Philipon,  and  Cham  and  Andre  Gill,  of  Nast  and  Keppler 
and  Gillam,  and  who  have  already  begun  to  record  with 
trenchant  pencil  the  events  that  are  ushering  in  the  dawn  of 
the  new  century. 


THE  END 


X 


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THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  C  AI.IFORMA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  Dl  E  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


NOTIS  m 


oJ'ii 


RETURNED    MAR  2  21991 


HET'DJUN  15  1925510 

i^C  MAyoi20(» 

MAY  ?B  2000 


lOOM  11/86  Series  9482 


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